Clan
by Kyogre
Summary: Complete. Death Scythe didn't pass to her, and that meant her father was still alive, somewhere out there. Seira was determined to find him, even if she had to turn the human world upside down in the process. (Noblesse AU, Seira, M-21, M-24, Regis, Rael)
1. For My Family

~.~.~

 **Title:** Clan

 **Summary:** Death Scythe didn't pass to her, and that meant her father was still alive, somewhere out there. Seira was determined to find him, even if she had to turn the human world upside down in the process. (AU, Seira, M-21, M-24, Regis, Rael)

 **Notes:** Characterization is wildly off, and I managed to forget the entire timeline in the two weeks since I read it. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ But hey, first fic in a fandom is always a mess anyway. Incidentally, I'm using the names that I see most in fic, not the official translations (because the official translation isn't consistent with itself anyway).

~.~.~

 **Chapter 1: For My Family**

Seira had been acting oddly ever since they left Lukedonia and came to the human lands.

She had still been her usual elegant, controlled self, of course, but Regis had known her for the entirety of his almost two hundred years. He could read the subtle tension in her hands, no matter what she was holding, and the way she would sometimes look out into the distance for a beat too long.

Something was on her mind, something that preoccupied her and made her restless. Not that Seira was willing to tell Regis what it was, no matter how he asked. Nosiness was inelegant, but Regis had grown increasingly blunt in his attempts to get her to open up — only to be rebuffed every time.

Until, finally, barely a month into their trip to the human world, Seira sat him down in the apartment they — mostly she — had secured for them and drew herself up stiff and straight as if reporting to the Lord herself.

"Regis," Seira said slowly but without hesitation, "there is a matter I must attend to, so we will be parting ways for a time." Ignoring his shocked, gaping stare, she pressed on. "Pay attention to your studies of human civilization and culture, and try not to—"

"Seira! What do you mean, you're leaving? Where are you going? Why?" Regis demanded, jumping to his feet. Seira sighed with an air of resignation, but there was no time to be concerned about his behavior. "Nevermind, that's not important. I'm coming with you."

"No," she said.

"Yes," Regis shot back, crossing his arms.

They stared at each other for a long while, longer than any human would have been able to endure without caving — or at least blinking.

"No," Seira repeated.

Normally, Regis would have at least blushed and backed off a little in shame at the authoritative, rebuking tone she used. But this wasn't normal, and in truth Regis had an idea what Seira was really after. "You're... going to look for your father, aren't you?" he said, shoulders tensing as he glanced up at her.

Seira's expression, unreadable at best of times, had gone completely blank. Even so, she didn't deny it, and that was as good as an admission.

"Grandfather... er, the clan head said it's too dangerous," Regis pointed out, glaring mutinously, even though he knew Seira was well aware of what Gejutel had said. If she had made up her mind to the point of informing Regis of her departure, such a simple argument wouldn't dissuade her. "We don't even know for sure who defeated our parents and our clansmen. But if they could take on two clan heads... You're barely older than me, and you don't have a soul weapon either!"

The look he was pinned with made Regis flinch. It was precisely because she didn't have a soul weapon that Seira had to go. Her father was still alive somewhere out there, still clan head and still holding Death Scythe, and Seira had to find him.

"I'm going with you," Regis repeated instead, giving Seira the firmest, most stubborn look he could muster.

This time, she didn't try to argue, only closing her eyes and sighing a little more heavily than usual. It sounded like capitulation.

It wasn't until the middle of the night, long after he had gone to bed with the certainty that Seira would still be there in the morning, when he woke up to feel the connection between them stretched to the its fullest limit by distance and finally unravel, that Regis realized — somewhere along the line, Seira had learned to lie quite well.

~.~.~

One argument that Regis hadn't brought up, showing how little he understood of the world outside Lukedonia, was that Seira should have had no idea where to even start looking. The human lands were vast, and one girl, noble or not, wouldn't be able to search them even if she spent centuries at the task.

That line of reasoning had been used on Seira in the past, by Gejutel, Karias, Rosaria, and others concerned for her mental state and that she might do something rash — as she was doing at the moment. Just like against Regis's well-founded logic regarding the level of opponent she would face if she got her way, Seira had remained unmoved. Sometimes... logic and reason just didn't matter. It was undignified and inelegant and probably dishonorable to the memory of her clan and father, but Seira could not simply forget and live placidly in Lukedonia.

She had gotten better at pretending she could, however. Good enough that she had been allowed to accompany Regis, otherwise unsupervised, into the human world in preparation for his coming of age. Just twenty years ago, when she had made the journey for her own bicentennial, Rosaria had never allowed her out of her sight. Seira really had learned to lie.

Yes, her actions were certainly dishonorable, verging on treasonous. But her father... her father was out there. And she would find him.

Because she had a lead.

It was slim, but it had been the last straw — when Rael approached her and told her about what he'd overheard his brother and Gejutel discussing.

The ones to defeat her father and Roussare had been the traitors, there was no doubt of that. But Rajak suspected they had not acted alone — not just allying with the modified humans who had fought with them back then, but with those that had created them. The human organization, the Union, which Lukedonia had formed an uneasy non-aggression agreement with... Rajak had been too cautious to brand them in league with the traitors, not without evidence, but Rael had overheard him more than just broadly hint at that to Gejutel.

As two clan heads, they couldn't make any rash moves, no matter what they suspected, and Seira understood that. They couldn't risk starting a war carelessly.

But she, on the other hand, couldn't just sit by.

Rael had also provided her with a list of locations that Rajak had marked as related to the Union. He must have known what she would do, but he hadn't tried to stop her — just looked at her with the same expression of sympathy-anticipation-uncertainty-longing as always.

Once, years ago, Rael had suggested she join the Kertia clan, or at least consider herself an honorary member. So she wouldn't be alone, he'd said. He had been about to say something else, before the cold fury in Seira's face made him abruptly fall silent.

There had been a certain tentativeness whenever he approached her after that. But he'd never stopped approaching. Rael was... pushy like that. That was part of what made him not her type.

Not that Seira could complain. After all, that was proving useful to her.

Now, she had a place to start.

The humans' Union was all-encompassing, spreading its roots across the entire world. Even suspecting them, without knowing which of their many, many facilities to start with, it should have been like searching for a needle in a haystack, one captured subject among untold thousands.

But Seira had a plan.

The city she headed toward served as one of the Union's busiest transit locations. People, goods, and who knew what else passed through there in a constant stream of secretive, concealed activity. That included, Seira thought, even a member or two of their upper management, on their way between larger core bases.

Her plan had been to find the highest ranking Union official she could and force them to reveal anything they knew — about the traitors, about nobles, and if it came to that, if they knew nothing of use, about the areas most forbidden and requiring highest access.

That had been Seira's plan, but...

It was just a spark, a flicker quickly drowned out by warped human energy — of painfully familiar aura, at the very edge of her senses.

Why, Seira wondered, was there someone that felt like her clan in the Union's city?

~.~.~

They had been passing through the main Mediterranean transit hub on their way to their next assignment, when it started — the feeling of being watched. It crawled up both their spines, making M-21 and M-24 exchange a look.

But they were in a city awash with Union agents and personnel on every level, so it was hardly surprising to find themselves under observation. So, ducking their heads, they'd tried to just get out of there as quickly as possible.

Except that the feeling hadn't gone away, not even when they crossed over into Asia. As they cut through a dingy alley of some backwater city, the sensation of eyes on them seemed even closer. M-21's temper was reaching its breaking point, and only M-24's side looks and his own fear of drawing the wrong kind of attention kept him from whirling around and confronting their tail head-on.

He ground his teeth. 'Should we confront them?' he thought, glancing at M-24 again. He'd circled that point several times, but he still couldn't come to any decision.

Would taking the initiative be to their advantage? At least they would find out who it was and make a guess as to why. Or was it better to pretend ignorance and hope whoever it was went away? M-21 glanced at his partner again, but M-24 was absolutely no help, pointedly pulling his hat down lower and continuing to move along briskly.

Right. M-21 needed to stay calm too and think — but they just didn't know enough...

In the end, the choice was taken out of their hands.

Both of them tensed as someone stepped into the alley ahead of them, but the oddness of the figure overrode their suspicion for a moment, and they simply stared in surprise. It was a girl, her long white hair and equally pale complexion shining out of place in the drab, dirty surroundings. As she lifted her head, staring straight at them, her eyes seemed to gleam red.

There was absolutely no way she was an ordinary human.

'A special project?' M-21 thought because there was nothing mass-produced about her. 'But what could she want with us? Even if we drew someone's attention, they wouldn't send something like that...'

Neither to capture or eliminate them, the two possibilities. It would be a waste of high-class resources on two failures.

The girl and the two men stared each other down — unknown to either side, both looking at an existence that didn't make any sense to them.

It was the girl who finally broke the stalemate, raising her chin and narrowing her sharp red eyes. "You will tell me everything you know," she said with the tone of an order, "starting with what you are and the source of your power."

She was speaking to both of them, but her eyes were on M-24. Baring his teeth in a threatening scowl, M-21 stepped stepped forward — and half a step in front of his partner. "You first," he snarled. "Who the hell are you?"

His mind was racing. 'Asking that... One of Crombel's competitors, trying to find out about his work?' he thought. 'Or maybe... Is she even from the Union at all?' But if she wasn't Union, what could she be? She wasn't a normal human, he hadn't been wrong about that. Her presence, tightly controlled as it was, was simply too different. Some country's attempt at a modified human? Or perhaps from one of the other, smaller organizations that existed in secret?

"I am Seira J. Loyard, of the Loyard clan," the girl introduced herself calmly, as if conceding to their demands and giving away that information — giving away her name — meant nothing to her.

Maybe it didn't mean anything. Maybe that's how it was when you had a name of your own — and a name like that, no less. Regal and weighty, carrying an entire history...

This wasn't the time for that, and, grimacing, M-21 shoved away the pointless flicker of jealousy. The important part was the implications. A name like that wouldn't belong to some country's agent. But if she wasn't Union, and she wasn't from a rebelling government, then—

His eyes widened as it occurred to him. There was one kind of opponent that the Union was unwilling to engage — the noblesse.

He could feel M-24 glance at him, waiting for his lead, but he didn't know, what to do, how to respond. Should they try to get more information? Should they run? The standing orders were to not engage a noblesse, but she was the one who had approached them...

It wasn't as if they could answer her anyway — what they were, where their meager powers came from, failures weren't afforded that knowledge.

They were hesitating too long, and the girl — Seira J. Loyard — narrowed her eyes, lips thinning in displeasure. "That information is classified," M-21 said quickly, spreading his hands as if showing his peaceful intent. "We're not at liberty to reveal that to some outside our organization."

She didn't like that answer. "You will tell me," Seira said, her tone cold with the promise of violence. "Why do you feel like a member of my clan?"

Her gaze was on M-24 again, and M-21 growled, stepping between them blatantly now, before the implications of what she was saying registered. M-24 felt like one of her people to her... what exactly had Crombel done to them?

No, more pressingly, what was she going to do to them for that real or perceived slight?

The only thing that the Union respected was power, so if the order was to avoid noblesse and retreat rather than engage, their power must have been concerning even by Union standards. For two failures, no matter how much they had secretly improved, it would be an unwinnable battle.

There wasn't any more time to think or hesitate — the girl, Seira, was growing tense, like a taut wire, ready to snap out. They had to act first.

So M-21 seized the initiative. Hands shifting into claws instantly, he darted to the side — and ripped into the brick wall next to them. Dust and debris exploded through the alley, momentarily obscuring Seira's vision of them and giving them a fractional opening, and a way out through the newly made hole.

'If M-24's powers are really like hers, then she can mind control. We need to avoid eye contact,' M-21's thoughts churned away. 'No, the more important part is we need to lose her!'

Another seemingly careless swipe, and the nearest supports were gone. The entire wall and the adjoined parts of the building began to crumble, rubble raining down on the alley and the girl, who had only raised her arm slightly to shield her face.

M-24 was already retreating hurried through the abandoned building, and M-21 followed, trying to put as much distance between them and the girl as possible before she recovered and gave chase.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the clouds of dust and falling rubble part like an invisible blade had cut through them — a simple knife-hand swing of her arm — to reveal Seira, unaffected and unruffled. A cold thrill of terror went down his spine as her unreadable red eyes met his. The focus and intent behind it was more cutting than any Union agent they had ever seen.

It wasn't that he hesitated and left an opening. It was just that she stood completely above their level. She closed the distance in an instance, casually batting aside his instinctive swipe. But she must have been holding back, using only enough power to deflect, not break his arm, and when her hand struck out, it was a grab, not a killing blow.

M-21 ducked aside, just barely, and feigned another swipe. The girl, Seira, raised her hand to block, reading correctly where he would have aimed — except it wasn't his intent at all.

"Now!" At the last moment, he jumped back, leaving her standing there alone as a thick steel beam was thrown toward the spot they had been, courtesy of M-24.

She caught it easily, the end colliding with her palm and the length twisting in several places as its momentum was abruptly halted. The girl hadn't even been pushed back an inch where she stood. Only her white hair flared in the wind of the collision.

There was a deafening clanging and rumble as the beam dropped to the ground in front of her, cracking the concrete floor. Seira had been about to follow again, undaunted by the momentary delay, but a large sack came hurtling toward her next.

The faintest trace of irritation tugging at her lips, she sliced it in half with her fingertips. She was already taking a step forward, intending to dart past, when the sack parted and its contents spilled out — a dry, chalky white powder that splattered across her head, shoulders and torso.

Seira stood motionless as the two halves of the sack and the remaining powder plopped onto the ground around her. The silence was stunning, like the world itself was holding its breath not to laugh at her. She sneezed, a tiny, mouse-like sound, sending up a small cloud of white dust.

There was the subtlest trembling in her white-stained shoulders, from fury or embarrassment or frustration.

Then, she straightened slowly and very, very calmly. The stains across her black suit vanished, leaving it emmaculate once more. Reaching up, she brushed back her once again clean hair. When she opened her eyes, there was only an unshakable determination there.

Now, she definitely couldn't let them get away.

~.~.~

"I can't believe that worked," M-24 muttered, as they rushed through the abandoned back alleys toward the center of the city, where they could at least try to use the crowds to stall the girl — the noblesse. Or at least, that was what they hoped.

"Not for long," M-21 pointed out, his brow furrowed in worry and anger. 'Dammit, that bastard Crombel, what the hell did he do to us — to M-24?' he thought furiously. 'Should we report this? We can't handle her alone, but what if they take it as an excuse to send us back to the labs?'

It didn't matter, in the end. They didn't get that far.

"She's coming!" M-24 yelled suddenly, spinning around to look behind them with an expression of shock and uncertainty, as if he couldn't believe his own words. "I can feel—!"

He could feel her presence. He hadn't realized it before, but he'd felt something off from the start, from the moment she appeared before them, and the sense of her location had remained at the back of his mind as they retreated. But now, she was on the move, catching up impossibly fast. To head so unerringly toward them, she must have had the same instinctive knowledge of their location — of his location. She'd said as much, hadn't she?

'Overhead—!' he realized, head jerking up just in time to see a small shadow appear in the gap between roofs.

The girl, Seira, was already plummeting down onto them, before they could even react. She landed next to M-21, the ground cracking and caving in slightly beneath her. He had started to turn, hands shifting to claws — just in time for her to plant her fist into his gut, making him gag.

In a smooth motion, she grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back, spinning him around to put him between her and M-24. Kicking his knees out and making him drop until they were about level, she held her free hand threateningly against his neck.

Her fingertips remained slim, the nails rounded and not becoming claws like a Union agent's would have. But the meaning was clear — one wrong move, and M-21 would pay the price.

M-21 threw his head back, trying to headbutt her, but Seira twisted his arm further, keeping him pinned, her expression unwavering. M-24 snarled at her, baring his too-long fangs.

"No, don't!" M-21 yelled, guessing what he would do.

He was right, it was pointless, but it was instinct, when seeing his partner held down and in danger — even if it was pointless, M-24 threw his mind against hers, trying to make her hesitate even for a moment.

Seira's eyes narrowed. She hadn't even flinched, his weak assault rolling off her like a wave against the shore. "That power... really is like one of my clan," she said. "You will tell me — how were you able to obtain it? What did you do to my clansmen and my father?"

Her tone and her expression were chilling. Her grip on M-21 tightened instinctively, making him wince.

"We don't know!" he burst out, trying to glare over his shoulder at her. "You think the Union told us something like that? We don't know what Crombel did to us!"

He hadn't meant to say all of that. Admitting ignorance was like admitting weakness, and giving away that you didn't know meant giving away that you had no cards to play. Now that she knew they couldn't give her the information she wanted, she had no reason to keep them alive.

But instead, he found himself suddenly released as the girl took a step back.

M-24 rushed to his side, helping him up. Backing away, both of them kept a wary eye on her, but she only watched them with an unreadable expression.

After a long moment, she finally spoke, her voice even and calm once more, and with a subtle shift that neither of them recognized. "Crombel..." Seira repeated. "Then tell me everything about him. Who is he, and where do I find him?"

~.~.~

 **Next: Seira**

~.~.~


	2. Seira

~.~.~

 **Notes:** While I'm trying to use generally the same events as canon, the exact details and timing are not meant to be precise. Mostly because I don't remember who knew what when and stuff like that, haha.

~.~.~

 **Chapter 2: Seira**

They didn't tell her everything, naturally. That would have destroyed what usefulness — and bargaining chips — they still had. Once Seira backed off in her questioning enough to give them some breathing room and he managed to get his brain working again, M-21 scrambled to regain, if not the advantage, then at least some semblance of leverage.

Still. 'Is this really a good idea?' M-24's thoughts were clear as they shared a silent look.

The train jostled around them as it sped along on the old tracks, creaking and groaning. Seira, sitting further down the car, back perfectly straight and hands folded in her lap, appeared even more pristine in comparison to the dingy surroundings. There wasn't a single stain of rust or mud on her black suit or a tangle in her long white hair. It couldn't possibly be natural, but then she herself wasn't exactly natural — not human.

It made M-21 itch to make some sarcastic, needling comment about whether the pathetic transportation provided to a pair of failed agents on a glorified errand were up to her standards.

That would have been too brazen even for him, so he held his tongue.

'I don't really like it either, but it's the best option,' he thought, scowling a little at M-24. He wanted to tell him his reasoning, but Seira had never gone far enough for them to be sure she was out of hearing range.

Telling her about Crombel, that he was a Union scientist and that he had been the one to do their modifications, was not a problem. They certainly had no loyalty to him, and the scarce information they could provide was so general there was little chance it would be traced back to them.

However, offering to get her a lead on Crombel's whereabouts? What in the world had prompted him to say they'd help her?

M-24 had barely hidden his shocked reaction, even if he had gone alone with it, and M-21 really did wish he could explain. There was a reason — several, even.

It was risky, true. Especially since cooperating with her meant that Seira was now accompanying them to their original destination. If they were spotted with her, it would put them in a bad spot. But they could talk their way of that, claim they had been leading her into a trap. The Union wasn't the most immediate threat — she was.

As long as they at least pretended to cooperate with her, Seira would hopefully hold off on the revenge she felt she and her clan were due for... whatever it was Crombel had done to make M-24 similar to them. All three of them knew, it wouldn't have ended well for Seira's clansmen or involved their consent, and what if she wanted to take it out on them?

Asking after Crombel's whereabouts wouldn't necessarily link them to her either, no matter what happened afterwards. Crombel was something of a rising star in the Union, and gossip about him abounded. As long as they were careful in who and how they asked, it would be easy to point Seira in the right direction without raising any suspicions.

And once she knew where to look for her real target...

'Hopefully she'll take his damn head off,' M-21 sneered mentally. 'Better yet, they take each other out.'

Immediately after, his grimaced at his own thoughts.

They certainly wouldn't shed any tears if Crombel finally got what was coming to him, but there was another purpose to it too. Seira wanted Crombel's research — and so did they. It was a long shot, but it was possible, that in the shuffle, they would be able to get their hands on those files... and fulfill their goal.

M-21 shook his head. 'Don't get carried away,' he told himself. 'Stay focused. We're already taking a huge risk. Not to mention...'

His eyes darted to the girl again, but she hadn't moved from the position she'd taken when they first boarded. If she could feel his gaze on her, she gave no indication. That unreadable demeanor only made him more tense. There was no telling what she was thinking or feeling — and that meant having to assume the worst.

That she was a threat to them. To his partner.

He glanced instinctively toward M-24, and his frown deepened. M-24 didn't notice, his attention focused entirely on the noblesse girl and on his own thoughts, his expression distant and considering.

Yes, M-21 needed to stay on guard and keep his head on his shoulders. It seemed he was the only one who would.

~.~.~

The last leg of their journey to the Union's South Korean branch was to be made by boat. Night had fallen by the time they made it to the docks, which stood seemingly empty. Not actually empty, of course — with their enhanced senses, it was easy to catch the shifting shadows and the scuffle of movement just out of sight, as the criminal nightlife went about its course.

Meeting up with local contacts and verifying their identity was M-21's job, since no matter how he sneered and glared, he never quite managed to project the same level of instinctive threat as M-24's hulking form. It was something M-24 had ribbed him about a few times, when they were far from the Union centers and feeling as lighthearted as they ever did.

...Not so much recently, not when it had become an unintended reminder that M-21 was the stronger one, the one who didn't need the pills, who stood a chance if he chose to run.

However, this time, M-21 hesitated instead of heading out to find their contact, looking unhappily between M-24 and Seira. It was obvious he didn't want to leave them alone, but it wasn't as if they could go as a group either.

"We'll be waiting here," M-24 assured him as best as he could, stealing another look at Seira, who maintained the same unreadable composure as she had through the entire journey.

Dithering for a moment longer, M-21 finally threw him an almost rebellious glare before stalking away.

He'd probably guessed at least something of his partner's thoughts and intent. It had been M-24's goal to be left alone with the noblesse girl, but now he found himself hesitating. Disturbing the silence between them was a pointless risk, one M-21 would certainly chew him out for. But he couldn't help it — he had to know.

'What did you mean when you said I felt like one of your clan?'

He couldn't just ask that, of course.

Glancing at her again, he said, "Those clothes... Do you have anything else?"

She turned to look up at him through her fringe — it was the first time she had looked at either of them since they first told her about Crombel and she had turned away to consider all of it, he realized — then down at herself and the black suit she was wearing.

Setting aside how much it didn't fit their surroundings, the white lace collar, the gold cravat and piping made it clear this wasn't a normal albeit expensive outfit. Not to mention that it was simply too clean and pristine to be real.

"You stand out," M-24 clarified, wondering if perhaps a non-human wouldn't realize something like that. "The Korean branch is in a big city, and there's a lot of Union surveillance. Once we get closer, you'll need to be able to blend in at least a little while you wait for us. If you don't have anything to change into, we can..."

He trailed off, staring.

They could get her something, seeing as she carried nothing with her, he had been about to say. There was, it turned out, no need for that. Before his eyes, the black suit and the white shirt flaked away — into a plain brown trench coat that covered her from the neck down.

She must have based the design on what he and M-21 were wearing, but somehow it still looked quite elegant on her. It also did little to make her long white hair and regal posture less conspicuous, but that was probably a lost cause.

It took M-24 a moment to regain his composure enough to form words. "That... is a noblesse power, then? Changing your clothing like that?" he asked. It was a struggle to keep his voice level, devoid of anything more than casual interest. "That's definitely convenient."

Slowly, the girl nodded. She looked up at him for a moment longer before turning away, folding her hands and standing straight like a statue once more. "Yes," she said. "You can't do it? What you used before — the mind control — that is a power we nobles possess. And you... it's faint, but there is an aura like a noble about you."

"Nobles? Is that what you call yourselves?" So the Union had it wrong? Hardly surprising, of course.

"Noble, noblesse, both are used," Seira said. "We once lived together with humans, and they feared and worshipped us as rulers or gods. But our will was simply to protect those who were weaker than us. It is our duty as those with power. That is why we became called 'noblesse oblige.'"

He couldn't stop himself from snorting disdainfully, and belated tried to cover it up with a cough. The duty of those with power — protecting the weak? 'What kind of fairy tale is that?' M-24 thought, his expression not quite a scowl or a sneer, but some pained grimace in between. 'She's a kid after all, if she really believes something like that.'

Realizing Seira was watching him again out of the corner of her eye, he tensed. Naive or not, she was powerful. If she noticed his derision and took offense—

But her red eyes flickered away again, staring out across the dark harbor. "That is what my father taught me," she said. "It is the way we live. And it was while protecting the weak humans who couldn't protect themselves that he and our clansmen were defeated a hundred years ago. They did their duty to the last."

'A hundred years...? She really isn't human.'

M-24 pushed the thought away. That wasn't the important part. "So they left you alone for the sake of some weaklings? You must be pretty pissed at humanity," he said.

But strangely, Seira only gave a small, quiet sigh. "I believe in our duty too," she corrected him.

'Meaning... what? That she would also do the same?' M-24 thought. A sardonic, mirthless smirk tugged at his lips, behind the collar of his coat. 'As if anyone can survive like that.'

It was a shame, that she'd just end up dying young. He almost wanted to tell her — forget about that nonsense, and focus on surviving.

The faint crease in her brow and the way her lips pursed gave away that there was something more Seira wanted to say, but despite the internal debate that clouded her features, she remained silent. Neither of them said anything further, looking out across the dark waves.

~.~.~

M-24 had been both wrong and right. The truth was, Seira was angry. She had been very angry for a long time — by human measure, at least. The weight of her fury made the other nobles uneasy, but they had always allowed her the space and time for it to cool. To them, a century was barely the start of mourning. She just needed time, they thought, and she would find calm again and see reason.

Seira didn't think of it that way, as mourning. Her father was still alive, somewhere out there. As long as she did not receive the complete Death Scythe, that hope — that stubborn belief — remained. And that meant someone or something was keeping her father, her family from her. Rage stifled her grief, and Seira sharpened it into a blade.

She was angry, yes. But she wasn't angry at humanity or the humans her clan had tried to protect. She was angry at those that had used the weak humans and their lives as a trap. She was angry at the traitors, she was angry at this Union.

She just hadn't known how to explain that, or if she even should. Because the next part that followed was that she wasn't angry at him or his partner, despite their wariness toward her.

'You think the Union told us something like that? We don't know what Crombel did to us!' M-21 had burst out, when fear momentarily overcame his usual reticence. It had made her stop, then, and look at the two of them again.

Why did one of them feel like her clan? That was a question she still wanted to know the answer to.

But the question following that one was no longer, 'What did you do to my family to become that way?' It was, 'What did the Union do to you?'

The clan heads and the older nobles had always spoken of modified humans as those who threw away their humanity for power. They were no longer truly human, and it was no longer their duty to protect them, so the reasoning went.

But was that really the case? Those two, at least...

When M-24's faint, flickering signature began to ascend and then, once they exited the building, move quickly in her direction, Seira discarded her train of thought and waited.

M-21 was in the lead, as usual, landing on rooftop where they had left Seira before heading into the Korean branch, and making his way to where she stood. She tilted her head slightly in acknowledgement, but did her best to otherwise pay them no mind. It always made them tense when she looked at them, after all. Pretending to be disinterested seemed the simplest solution.

"You're in luck," he said immediately, his tone brusque and to the point.

He made a good show of being unconcerned, but even if she couldn't read his aura as easily as his partner's, Seira noted the quickness of his heartbeat and the small tension in his hands. And M-24... Hidden beneath her fringe, her eyes narrowed slightly.

They were always uneasy around her, but this was something else. This was the kind of old, deep fear that made you go cold.

"You don't need to go anywhere to get at Crombel. Turns out he's coming here. They've already received his itinerary," M-21 said. His eyes flickered across the empty rooftops as if expecting a Union spy to drop on them at any moment — even though Seira knew there was no one nearby. But perhaps it was better not to tell him just how good her sixth sense was. "Something about observing the experiments they've been conducting here... He'll arrive in two days, along with his bodyguard Mary and Jake, another operative."

Seira nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you for your help," she said politely, ignoring the reasons, the fear, that drove them to cooperate with her.

It was only a simple courtesy, but it seemed to surprise them both. They stared — and tensed a little further, oddly. Again, they were expecting something dishonorable from her, weren't they? It made her want to sigh.

But there was nothing Seira could do, except turn and begin to walk away.

"Crombel won't leave the branch, but fighting your way down to the main lab might be too much even for you," M-24 called out. There was choked sound of surprise, and Seira didn't need to look to know M-21 was staring incredulously at his partner. "But Jake won't want to stay there the entire time. If you catch him while he's out, you can use his phone to call out Mary or Crombel alone. You'll have a better chance of getting your answers then."

Glancing back over her shoulder, Seira nodded again.

'I'll be back, once I find my father,' she didn't tell them — it would only make them nervous again.

But even if it was illogical, she couldn't just leave someone who felt so much like one of her clan. No, not even just that... she couldn't leave anyone who was so scared and hurt. Even if they didn't believe her, that was the way a Loyard lived... and died, if it came to that.

~.~.~

 **Next: Doctor Crombel**

~.~.~


	3. Doctor Crombel

~.~.~

 **Notes:** Power levels are a mystery. I'm pretty sure I'm using the word "aura" wrong. And Seira is acting like a less loud Regis, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

In response to review from **Daniela (guest)** : OK, I went and found the one solitary mention of Seira's supposed brother, in chapter 259. And let me tell you, it's just poor translation. Gejutel is almost certainly talking about his own son, not Loyard's never again mentioned first child. Note how this "son" goes from Rusard to Lusar in one panel, and is probably actually Roussare (Regis's dad).

In Japanese at least (so I assume the same in Korean), this is actually a really easy mistake because they often drop the possessive pronoun when talking about family members. So the original Korean might have just said "son" and the translator assumed it was Loyard's kid when it was actually Gejutel's.

Also, the more reliable fan translation (egscans) had Gejutel talking about his own son here.

Not to say that adherence to canon is a priority here. Details I've blissfully ignored: Regis and Seira were traveling around in the human world for years before coming to Korea, Crombel doesn't appear to have known the term "noblesse" at all, we have no canon information about what M-24's modifications were, etc.

~.~.~

 **Chapter 3: Doctor Crombel**

It had taken Jake less than a day to grow bored with the meetings, the kowtowing of the minor local officials, the lab inspections, and just generally having to trail after Crombel as he inspected things that made no sense to Jake and which he cared nothing about, except in how they might make him stronger.

But Crombel was different from the disposable labcoats Jake had slaughtered before, especially with Mary's silent, threatening presence constantly two steps behind him. Making trouble for him would be the last thing he did before disposal.

Sneering at them, he had instead slipped away and headed outside — to look for his own "entertainment." Even though Mary fell in behind him, no doubt knowing his intentions, she made no move to stop him, and after only a moment of hesitation, Jake settled for ignoring her presence.

He had been drifting toward the seedier, less-trafficked parts of the city, his eyes scanning every passing figure for one that would catch his interest, when he noticed someone step straight into his path, just ahead. He stopped and narrowed his eyes, expecting a particularly stupid mugger — and his first victim — only to find a far more interesting sight.

A girl, and a pretty one at that. Very pretty, with long silver hair and a lovely face. She looked almost like a doll, all immaculate and delicate, and Jake's shark smile widened — perfect for breaking. That pale skin would look even better all torn up and bloody...

The girl raised her head, and her eyes gleamed red.

~.~.~

Seira didn't bother holding back. She could read Jake's intentions — the cruelty and the bloodlust — in his sharp-toothed smirk, in his twisted, decaying aura, and in the sense of old blood that clung to him like an indelible stench.

And if that hadn't been enough, he was certainly eager to show his nature.

She didn't cower or react at all as he loomed over her, and his leering smirk warped with disdain. "What's with that look?" he demanded. "You don't get what kind of situation this is, huh? That's fine, I'll show you. You won't be so high and mighty when I make you scream, you little—"

With Crombel's bodyguard already there and watching with silent disinterest, Seira didn't need him anymore. That was good — she wasn't sure whether she could have held herself back any further.

Jake choked, freezing in place — one clawed hand already raised to strike her. But Seira had been faster. His wide eyes trailed down, staring in shock at the thin arm that had been thrust straight through his chest. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his shoulders spasmed weakly.

"You've made many people scream and beg, haven't you?" Seira noted dispassionately. "Innocent people who could do nothing to fight back, just for your own amusement."

This one... he really had thrown away his humanity. For power, or for something else.

Her expression was completely cold as she ripped her hand free of his chest, the bloodstains soaking up to her elbow vanishing with barely the flicker of a thought. Jake's modifications had almost certainly included accelerated regeneration, but it wasn't nearly enough. Blood gurgled up, running down his chin in streams and, with a last abortive twitch toward her, his body began to topple.

But it never hit the ground. Seira almost missed it when Mary moved, hidden from view by Jake's bulk. There as only the faintest shift in her muted, slippery aura to mark her intent and a deceptive lack of any murderous intent. She must have felt nothing much at all when her dark claws cleaved through Jake's body, tossing it aside with enough force to embed it in the wall of the building to the left.

Her strike extended beyond just her reach, light flashing like blades just past Seira and down the alley. Parallel gouges carved into the opposite building, rubble and dust flying. Several cut strands of white hair drifted through the air.

An Assassination Squad member was on a different level than even a successful operative like Jake. A battle between them might even be close, Seira acknowledged silently.

She would still win in the end, she was certain — but they were in the middle of a populated city. Even though Jake had moved toward a less trafficked area, if they drew it out too long, someone would come to investigate. Humans were irrational like that sometimes. Not to mention that the chances of stumbling on someone and endangering them would also go up the longer the battle stretched.

'I need to end it quickly,' Seira decided.

She had sidestepped Mary's next thrusting blow and had been about to flip back to put some distance between them. Instead, changing her mind, she planted her feet and stood her ground. Her sudden reversal made Mary hesitate for a split second, and that was all Seira needed.

Their eyes met, and Seira levered her entire will into her gaze.

She didn't use mind control as part of her fighting style the way Regis did, to paralyze opponents, but she was still capable of it. The moment it afforded her — while Mary was frozen, wide-eyed — was all Seira needed to kick her legs out from under her and wrench her arm behind her back, the same way she had to M-21. But this time, she didn't stop until her threatening fingertips opened a thin cut across Mary's neck, drops of blood beginning to slip out.

"Now," Seira said, "call your employer. I have many things to ask him."

If the woman she was restraining gave in too easily and too quickly, Seira didn't care. Not when her thoughts were buzzing with the familiar, old rage and a furious anticipation.

~.~.~

"This is insane," M-21 muttered angrily under his breath. He shot his partner a scathing look, silently blaming him — even though he was going along with it as well. "If they realize we're not carrying out our mission and instead, instead we're..."

He gritted his teeth — instead, they were spying on the meeting that the noblesse girl, Seira, had arranged with Crombel.

She'd had Mary call him out to a half-finished office building, well removed from the populated areas. Conveniently, its skeleton of metal beams and partial walls provided many good hiding places for them to observe from, as long as they suppressed their presence enough. But it was still stupid and reckless. They had nothing to gain by being there in person, except the potential satisfaction of seeing Crombel eviscerated. And that alone didn't outweigh the risks, no matter how much M-21 would relish the sight.

There wasn't even any guarantee the girl would win. It had been stupid of her to leave Mary alive. She might have been powerful — an understatement, when she had ripped Jake apart like he was nothing — but she was overconfident too.

Or perhaps blinded by emotion. They didn't have any family, so maybe they didn't really understand, but M-21 could imagine, just a little, the kind of desperation wanting to find them, even save them, would instil in someone.

Sympathy... was that why? Or...

He glanced at his partner again, surreptitiously.

Not that M-24 seemed likely to notice. At first, M-21 had tried to ignore how distracted he had been after they parted ways with Seira. But M-24 had remained lost in thought, and M-21 had wondered — why?

Because of sympathy? The Union had taken her family from her, just as it had taken their comrades. But unlike them, she could do something to strike back. Because she was so strange and different from anyone in the Union? Powerful, but not cruel. She had held back against them, even when she must have been angry.

Because their abilities were similar, because she said M-24 felt like someone from her clan?

Did M-24 feel something from her too? Something familiar and comforting, the way M-21 imagined family would feel?

So when M-24 said, awkwardly and fully expecting a firm refusal, "Maybe we should follow her. See how it goes," M-21 had just scowled and... not disagreed, even though every sense and reason screamed at him to. They needed to know if she did something to give them away, he'd excused it at the time.

Not that there would be anything they could do, even if she did. If they could have run from the Union, they would have done so long ago. Not like they would be able to help her if she did mess up or get overpowered, either.

'Help her? She doesn't need help,' M-21 thought, grimacing at his own thoughts. 'She put down Jake, just like that!'

He didn't even want to help her to begin with. He didn't care. But M-24 — sneaking another glance at his partner, M-21 could only hope he'd keep his head and not do something crazy.

"He's here," M-24 noted quietly, making M-21 go stiff.

He was right. The sharp click of footsteps echoed through the empty construction site, growing closer to where Seira waited, Mary held pinned in front of her.

If Crombel found the sight of his bodyguard being restrained by a girl to be at all surprising, nothing of that showed in his posture. He didn't even pause as he drew near them, coming to a stop on his own terms. Even the beat before he spoke was perfectly controlled.

Flicking a short look at Mary, Crombel smiled without honesty. "You must have something very important to discuss with me, to go to such lengths," he said. "You could have simply requested a meeting. I would have been honored to speak with one of the great noblesse."

Seira's back was to them, but it was easy to imagine the cold, unreadable expression on her face, what small emotion she allowed to show wiped clean by fury.

"This is not a discussion," she said flatly. "You will answer me — what have you and your organization done to my clansmen?"

Crombel's composure didn't waver, giving away no sign of guilt, but also nothing more than polite surprise that was too muted to feel genuine. "Your clan? I'm afraid I can't help you with that," he said. "My work is in modifying humans. I know little of noblesse. You are, in fact, the first I've ever met."

"Do not lie to me," Seira's voice cut through the suddenly thick air. Even from where they were hidden, her aura had become a near tangible weight pressing them down. "You have used my clan in your experiments." She twisted the last word with just as much revulsion as M-21 did in his mind.

Spreading his hands, Crombel shook his head. "I have never worked on a noblesse," he insisted. "All my subjects have been human. That's the truth, I swear."

As if his word meant anything. But Seira... hesitated, apparently unable to read any lie in his tone, or his posture, or his aura.

In return, Crombel watched her with a calculating gaze, his thought whirling away unseen.

"But perhaps..." he paused, his expression becoming thoughtful. It made M-21 scowl, certain that he was playing them — playing her. "Yes, there was one experimental series. The project directive was handed down to me, so I had no part in its design. I know that it involved implanting organs in order to induce additional abilities in the recipients. But now that I think about it... Almost all the subjects died from rejection, and I always thought it was too severe." He pushed up his glasses, the lenses glinting. "Perhaps the reason was that those organs weren't from humans to begin with."

'Implanting... organs?'

Without conscious thought, M-21's hand drifted up to rest over his chest tentatively. Inside him, there was something that had been implanted? Something that didn't belong. Something that wasn't even human?

What was it? What had Crombel and the Union put into him? Into them?

His gaze slid to the side, to M-24. That must have been why — he felt like one of Seira's clan because there was something of them inside him.

...She would kill them. Her family had been, had been violated, used beyond any forgiveness, she'd rip them apart to get back what they had taken, even if they hadn't known—!

Seira must have been caught on the same horrifying realization about what Crombel was implying. She stood rigidly, impossible still.

Wisely, Crombel didn't wait for her to regain her senses. "That experiment series was ordered by the Ninth Elder. I had no idea... " he said. "The Ninth Elder provided all the materials, the subjects and the parts. I don't know where he acquired them, but if he truly used your clan... of course, I will tell you where you can find him."

He spread his hands, his stance calm and offering, making no move to run or attack or defend himself. Nothing to show guilt or fear. That — artificial, fake — pacifying gesture and tone finally snapped M-21 back to the present with instinctive suspicion and distrust.

Crombel was trying to redirect Seira's anger, pretending innocence and shifting the blame on the Ninth Elder. M-21 gritted his teeth. What if she believed him? Despite his fears, Seira had let the two of them off the hook easily, focusing all her attention on Crombel. What if she shifted targets again, just as easily?

'No!' Even if Crombel truly hadn't know about Seira's clan, and even if it was true, he simply hadn't cared. The things he had done to them were still unforgivable. If he escaped unscathed—!

"...Where?" Seira said, barely above a whisper.

Damn it! She was really going to let him live! He was really going to just get away...!

Shaking with rage, M-21 ducked his head and struggled to remain still and silent while Crombel gave Seira the coordinates of the Ninth Elder's research base. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, he knew. He shouldn't have expected anything. People like Crombel, people with power, couldn't be brought down so easily. There wasn't anything like justice in the world.

Down below, Seira nodded in acknowledgement. She didn't say anything else, releasing her grip on Mary, who straightened and, with a glance at Crombel from under her long bangs, took a step toward him, away from Seira.

That was as far as she got. Even though her senses must have been trained on Seira still, Mary didn't even have a chance to turn around — before Seira's arm snapped out and batted her aside.

~.~.~

The single blow had been far stronger than anything Seira had done to M-21 or Jake, and Mary's body tore through a pillars and several partial walls, making the entire half-finished structure shake. Dust and shrapnel exploded through the building's skeleton, engulfing Seira, Crombel, and the two watching.

Buried under the rubble, Mary did not emerge again, if she was even still alive.

Seira hadn't waited to confirm that, dashing at Crombel next. But for the first time since coming to the human world, she found herself matched. Crombel's deceptively wrinkled hand had wrapped around her wrist before she could strike him, his grip painful even to a noble like her. His arm didn't shake as he held her in place, her small fist only a few inches from his face.

"You intend to seek revenge on me even though I cooperated with you?" he noted, his glasses reflecting the dull, diffused light. "That's quite foolish of you, miss."

"No," Seira said. "It's not revenge. It's my duty."

Twisting her wrist, she finally broke his hold and spun into a roundhouse kick. It didn't connect. A bright burst of energy flashed where she had tried to strike Crombel in the head, the two forces repelling each other. Both of them were buffeted by the backlash, sliding apart across the empty floor.

"Duty?" Crombel repeated, his eyebrows rising slightly in bemusement as he straightened. There hadn't been even a single hair knocked askew, and his suit was still pristine.

He blocked Seira's next attack just as easily, even though it was even stronger. The shockwave made the steel beams creak in protest, and cracks spread across the floor where they clashed. This time, Seira managed to remain in place and followed up with another kick, only to be blocked again. Split into two around him, the force of the attack made the nearest pillars behind Crombel crack and bend.

The building wouldn't last much longer at this rate. Already, something was groaning ominously and beginning to tilt, making M-21 and M-24 scramble to remain where they had hidden overhead.

'We have to get out of here!' M-21 shot a frantic look at his partner. 'At this rate, we'll get caught up in the battle!'

To think that Crombel, a scientist, was this powerful — stronger than his own bodyguard. If he could modify himself to this extent, then why had he wasted his time on far weaker creations? But no, the answer was obvious. In the Union, power wasn't something to be shared. It should have been self-evident that Crombel and others like him would use their strongest, most advanced modifications on themselves.

"Yes, it's my duty," Seira said, when she and Crombel were pushed apart again by the clash of their powers. "As a noble and as one of the Loyard clan, I can't let someone who abuses their power and mistreats the weak continue to do as they please."

"Mistreat the weak? That's what this is about?" Crombel chortled.

"Will you deny that too?" Seira asked coldly. "I can't turn away and ignore their pain and frustration. It would dishonor everything our clan stands for. That's why... I won't let you get away."

Her eyes flashed red as she cast out her will, but Crombel only snorted derisively, the mental assault rolling off him harmlessly. "Foolish girl," he chided with a sneer. "I was going to let you go on your way, you know, have you stir up trouble for the Ninth..."

His aura flared, thick enough to be visible, blinding white and crackling through the building.

It was too close. They would get caught in it soon. "We have to go, now!" M-21 hissed, throwing caution to the wind. Grabbing hold of his partner's coat, he tried to drag him along. "M-24!"

He had only a moment to feel a sinking in his gut as M-24 didn't budge, his eyes fixed on the battle below — on the girl, who refused to back down or flee.

Then, Crombel gestured sharply, and that glowing power ripped outward, crashing through the ceiling and the floor, all the way to the roof and out the side of the building. Seira had managed to spin out of the way, but only just, and the edges of the blast ripped at the sleeve of the black suit she had returned to before the meeting.

Plaster and rubble were raining down freely now, the entire structure groaning ominously. The building had been all but cut in two, and it wouldn't last much longer.

"M-24!" M-21 whispered furiously, barely remaining in place and tugging at his arm. "We have to go! This has nothing to do with us!"

"It does. It's because of us," M-24 said, his jaw set. He was still staring in the direction of the battle, as if he could see through the dust — or perhaps it was that extra sense that told him what was happening down there. "We're the only ones she's met, from the Union, it's for our sake that she's fighting Crombel instead of going on her way to find her family."

'I can't turn away and ignore their pain and frustration,' she said.

And look where that got her.

Another shockwave rocked the half-collapsed building, a flash of white — Crombel's power, Seira's pale hair — between the clouds of dust and debris. Even in the brief glimpse of her, it was obvious she was being pressed back. The sleeves of her black suit had been reduced to tatters, and a streak of red as bright as her eyes ran down the side of her face.

If she wanted to go off and get killed for the sake of her self-righteousness, that was her choice. To begin with, wasn't she looking for her family? Choosing some strangers over them, saying this was the only way she could live, even if it got her killed...

Something like 'I would rather die by my beliefs than throw them away to live' was a privilege of the strong, of those who had never had everything stripped from them, who had never had to cling to life, to scramble just to survive.

But if following her clan's duty was the most important thing to her, they had their own duty— their promise, to live on. Regardless of sympathy or gratitude, trying to help her would just get them killed, or worse.

Feeling the tension in M-24, the way he refused to budge, only staring down at where Seira was continuing to fight, M-21 knew that didn't matter. Nothing he said, no matter how he explained or reasoned, would be enough to restrain his partner.

'I have to do something, anything!' M-21 thought frantically — before M-24 rushed in, and got himself killed.

"Listen to me! Just listen!" M-21 spoke quickly, trying to shake the stiff bulk of M-24's shoulder and forcing his partner to finally glance at him. "I have an idea—!"

~.~.~

In the end, Seira was the first to misstep. A sweeping arc of white energy slammed into her midriff and across her chest, sending her flying through several walls before she finally crashed into a steel beam that only bent but did not break. Seira choked and coughed, blood flecking her lips, as she dropped to the ground on her knees.

To think a human could be this powerful — did the Lord and Lukedonia know? Or was that why the nobles had withdrawn from the outside world, because humans were powerful enough now to no longer need protection?

At least, not from nobles or werewolves or any other kind of predator. Except, it seemed, their own kind.

No, Seira didn't think she had been wrong. Fighting this battle, stopping this man was her duty — even if she lost. Even if... she wouldn't be able to find her father or what happened to her clan. If she had turned away, she wouldn't have been able to face them anyway, not in this world and not in eternal sleep.

As she struggled to her feet and watched Crombel approach, his gaunt, leathery face creasing with a mocking smirk, Seira's steady fury was tempered by a flash of relief. Finally, the small, flickering presence that had continued to shadow her had begun to move. Those two were retreating. Good, the last thing she wanted was for them to be caught up in the fallout of her actions.

"You really should have just left," Crombel repeated. "But I can't say I regret gaining such a fine specimen to work with."

His approach was slow, every step measured — savored. Crombel knew he didn't need to rush. If Seira tried to run at that point, he would have caught up to her easily, injured as she was and with nothing else to distract him.

So she didn't try, only meeting his gaze coldly and silently counting the steps as he drew nearer.

There would be one more opening, when he prepared to deal the last blow, and she would make it count. If nothing else, she wouldn't let him leave this battle unscathed.

One step, another... Seira steadied her breathing, gathering all the power she had. Her attention focused on that single determination, she almost didn't notice — the small presence almost directly overhead, suddenly flaring.

Seira's composure broke, her head snapping up in shock and concern. She'd assumed they had headed up to the roof to leave that way, but why would his power spike when they were escaping?

What had happened up there? There was nothing she could do, but—

Crombel had paused, his eyes narrowing. He was smart enough to expect a trap or trick, and to not just blindly follow her gaze. However, this time, that was a mistake. The building shuddered, suddenly, making him stumble. And in the next moment — the ceiling crumbled, several stories' worth of rubble crashing down between them.

Having instinctively thrown up her arms to shield her head, Seira jerked in surprise when a hand closed over her shoulder and dragged her backward, away from the rubble avalanche.

She stared, almost not recognizing the person all but hauling her along. "You... Why are you here?" she blurted out, too stunned to modulate her reaction.

The white dust plastered over his hair and coat, collar pulled until it nearly hid his scowl, M-21 glowered back at her. "Hell if I know," he shot back without pausing. "This is insane...!"

For a wild moment, Seira considered ripping her arm free of his grip and turning back. She had made her decision to fight. To abandon that would be a disgrace — something like a collapsing building wouldn't kill her or her opponent.

But... turning back, when they had taken such a risk to help her would be wrong as well.

The floor under them cracked in two, a wide fissure opening almost directly beneath their feet. Seira stumbled, but M-21 just lifted her bodily over his shoulder, cursing under his breath all the while, and hurtled the last few steps to the crumbling edge of the building. The air trembled behind them as M-21 leaped clear, the building finally giving way and caving in on itself.

Bits of plaster and concrete pelted their backs as they landed on the ground. Despite wobbling slightly, unbalanced by Seira's weight, M-21 pushed on — another long jump taking them over the fence around the construction site, then darting into the narrow alleys nearby.

Glancing back at the building that was little more than a pile of rubble, a few solitary supports, and a rising column of dust, before it disappeared from sight, Seira at least couldn't see Crombel or anyone else watching or following them. And, stretching her senses, she could tell that M-24 was circling around to link up with them.

With a soft sigh, she let herself slump, the tension draining away to leave a deep sense of exhaustion.

"I can run on my own," she said quietly—

—and found herself unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

"Good! Then do it!" M-21 called back, barely pausing in his quick strides.

Rude, Seira thought, even if she picked herself up easily and fell in step with him. But she couldn't help smiling a little at his back, for all the things he didn't say. Fortunately, he didn't notice.

~.~.~

 **Next: Union Doctrine**

~.~.~


	4. Union Doctrine

**Notes:** aka filler and bonding, or something. Also, it occurred to me way too late that the most obvious choice would have been to give Seira incomplete Death Scythe, instead of not at all, but whatever.

OK, confession time. I fell off the writing train, and I'm just trying to force myself to through finishing. So I'm not editing the chapters from here. Sorry about the ensuing errors and low quality.

~.~.~

 **Chapter 4: Union Doctrine**

They ended up retreating to the town where their original mission was supposed to take place. If no one had noticed or reported them, it was where they should be and the best possible cover story. If their treasonous actions had been spotted, they would be expected to run as far as possible, so their mission area would be the last place anyone would look.

At least, that was the reasoning.

The apartment building where they were supposed to make the pickup was empty. Not just of any residents, which was natural given that it was owned by a shell of a shell put up by the Union, but also of the object they were supposed to retrieve.

Given that they were late for the pickup, it wouldn't be surprising if the local crooks had just fenced it to someone else. Normally, M-21 and M-24 would have felt some anticipation at the prospect of hunting down those small fry and punishing them for the slight against Union authority, as at least an amusing diversion, but at the moment, the mission was the last thing on their minds. Even as he absently scruffed the faint markings where the object — large and roughly rectangular — had rested, M-21 was thinking of far more pressing matters.

Like their next move. And what had the highest chance of keeping them alive just a little longer.

"Do you think it's possible Crombel saw you?" M-24 asked carefully, his blank eyes following his partner's pacing.

"I don't think so. He wouldn't have seen my face anyway," M-21 said, but there was a deep, unhappy frown on his face. "She picked a place without surveillance to begin with, and Crombel came alone..."

Which might have seemed like a stupid move, but it made sense in the Union's view of the world. If it was a trap, you couldn't afford to show weakness by asking for help, or risk bringing anyone, since they would just take the opportunity to turn on you. And if it wasn't a trap, then you didn't want to share information, whether useful or not, with a rival — which was everyone. There were no allies, not if you made it as high in the Union as Crombel.

"But we don't know that for certain," M-24 voiced what M-21 had been trying not to think about. "Crombel could just assume we were involved, without any reason. Or he might even have some ability we don't know about. Seira can just sense where I am, and I can feel her a little too. Who knows what Crombel can do."

M-21's scowl only grew more unhappy, but he didn't disagree.

"Maybe..." M-24 said slowly, "we shouldn't go back at all, not even to check." There was a tense silence as M-21 turned to stare at him, lips thinning in displeasure. "Just run away," M-24 pressed. "It's not like staying with the Union will lead to anything except getting disposed of, in the end. This is the best chance we'll have. Maybe we can even ask Seira—"

"Are you out of your mind?" M-21 hissed, finally breaking out of his stupor. "What about the pills? You'll die without them!"

'That's a price I'm willing to accept,' M-24 thought but didn't say, knowing it wouldn't help. But his partner must have read something of that in his silence, his expression growing even more stormy.

And, at the same time, M-21 knew him well enough to realize that nothing he said would make much difference. "You... It's not like we can rely on that noblesse girl," he finally snapped back. "Even if you think we can take a chance on her self-righteousness," and that was something M-21 disagreed with, "she's looking for what happened to her family, remember? She's going to keep fighting the Union. You think we should get involved in that?"

He had a point.

Knowing his partner had no rebuttal but also seeing the stubborn look on his face, M-21 clicked his tongue irritably.

"It doesn't matter until we know what our option are," he muttered, turning away. "I'm going to take a look around."

Without waiting for a response, he headed out the open balcony doors. Sighing, M-24 let him go.

~.~.~

Seira's injuries had healed an incredible rate, but the battle and the escape after had taken a great deal of her energy. They had left her to rest in one of the empty rooms, and she was still there when M-24 went to check on her — in the same exact position, posture still perfect as she leaned back against the wall, hands folded demurely in her lap.

Her eyes opened and she raised her head when he took a step into the room, but she didn't turn to look at him.

"How are you feeling?" M-24 ventured, some uncertain instinct making him take off his hat and duck his head and he approached.

"I have almost completely recovered," Seira said. "Another day, or so."

"And then... you're going to go after the Ninth Elder?" he guessed. As Seira considered her answer, he admitted, "Crombel's info is probably good. He wanted you to make trouble for the Elders, so he could steal their data or just undermine their power. Lying to you about where to go wouldn't be in his interests, and he wouldn't warn them either."

"His own allies?"

M-24 snorted. "That's the Union way. You get ahead by cutting the legs out from everyone else."

Seira's expression didn't change, at least not in any way he could have explained, but her disapproval and disgust was clear. It was almost like the truth about the Union had never occurred to her and made no sense at all — except that, to them, it was the most obvious thing.

"I suppose it's not like that with you nobles," he said, one corner of his lips quirking up wryly.

"No," Seira said, then her lips thinned. "But... Nobles betray each other as well. My clan..."

"You're looking for them," M-24 filled in. "They were betrayed by other nobles?"

Her hands clasping in her lap, Seira let out a slow, controlled breath. "A century ago, my father and my clan and our allies, the Landegre, were sent out to stop an incident in the human world," she said, each word coming only reluctantly. "Many humans had been threatened by the clan heads who had betrayed us when the previous Lord went into Eternal Sleep. We tried to stop them and protect the humans, but the traitors used them as hostages, and..."

M-24 could guess what followed. It seemed that M-21 had been more correct than he realized, when he said that Seira's sense of duty would get her killed. It had already happened — to her family. He opened his mouth, to tell her that there was no need to continue a story that had to pain her, but Seira went on before he could stop her.

"The Landegre clan head was killed. His soul weapon returned to the previous head, and that's how we knew..." she said, her gaze distant. "Almost every member of our clans had gone with them, but not one of them returned. So I became... the only one of the Loyard clan left in Lukedonia."

They didn't come back, she said. And that meant— "You think some of your people were taken by the Union?"

It was a stupid question, he realized immediately after saying it. Seira had already told him he felt like one of her clansmen, and Crombel had all but confirmed that, using parts of them... M-24 winced. There was a stinging behind his eyes, something that felt almost like tears that wouldn't come.

"My father's soul weapon did not pass to me," Seira said quietly. "When I reach for it, I can feel that his soul has not joined our ancestors inside it. That's why I know he is still alive. But if he hasn't returned, then he must be held captive. So I will find him and free him."

Her voice soft and very young. The earnest longing in it made it fragile, like she was revealing something secret. It was such a small, simple wish — to see her family again — but there was a desperation behind it that M-24 understood all too well.

That small, simple wish was impossible far away. Too many things lost, taken, so she clung to that one last hope all the more desperately.

"You must love him very much," he noted, turning his hat over in his hands with an absent smile.

A parent... What was that like? He couldn't remember his own family, of course, but he thought it might be something like the rest of the M series to him. He was more than willing to give up his own safety and even life, if they could have been freed — if M-21 could be freed.

Her eyes flicking to him, Seira gave a small nod.

He couldn't ask her — 'please help my partner' — as he had intended. Seira had her own family to protect and save. They, their little artificial family of two, would have to find a way to protect themselves.

~.~.~

When M-21 returned, it was to find them sitting together in peaceful silence. He stared for a moment, trying to figure out if they'd fallen asleep upright, before he caught the faint twitch at the corner of M-24's lips. Clicking his tongue irritably, he stalked toward them.

"I got food," he declared in a flat tone and dropped a couple takeout bags on the ground in front of them. Plopping down so they made a rough circle, he began to rummage inside. "Here, this is yours. And you too."

Seira looked at wrapped burger he held out to her for a beat too long, making M-21 scowl.

"Thank you, I'm grateful for your consideration," Seira said quickly, when he tried to take it back. However, once it was in her hands, she simply stared at it rather dubiously.

"If it's too low class for you, then don't eat it. I don't care," M-21 snapped. Pointedly looking away, he took a large bite of his burger and chewed with more vigor than frankly necessary.

Sighing, M-24 followed suit.

"Food... is necessary for humans to function," Seira commented, still staring down at the burger far too intently — as if reaffirming an alien idea. "And sharing food is a means of bonding and goodwill."

"It's not for nobles?" M-24 asked mildly, ignoring the face M-21 made before he remembered that he was ignoring her. Thinking back on it, Seira had never seemed to eat anything while they were traveling to Korea, or when she was waiting to ambush Jake and Mary.

Looking up, Seira frowned a little. "I appreciate the thought," she assured them, also not looking at M-21, since he didn't seem to be interested in her thanks. But the glance she shot at the burger again seemed distinctly unsatisfied. "For the next meal," Seira said slowly, "would it be possible to acquire ingredients? I wish to... return the gesture."

"You want to cook?" M-24 guessed. "There's no gas or power here, or water."

"I learned to summon basic elemental forces from the Eleanor clan head, when she oversaw preparations for my coming of age. I am not on the level of using such powers in combat, but a small scale application is possible," Seira said — which didn't tell M-24 anything, really, but he nodded in acceptance.

Perhaps the more important question was if she could cook at all, if she didn't need to eat. Judging by his smirk, M-21 didn't think so, and that was likely the reason he said, "Sure, I'll get some groceries when I head out to scout next time."

'Don't just get something unusable,' M-24 tried to convey with a flat look, but his partner only kept smirking and took another bite.

~.~.~

It wasn't entirely his fault, given that he didn't have any way of knowing what constituted a normal list of groceries, but M-21 returned that evening with a rather motley mix of goods. Seira nonetheless accepted them without comment.

"You know you're just shooting yourself in the foot," M-24 pointed out. "We're going to have to eat whatever she makes."

"What? Why?!" M-21 demanded, abruptly losing his smug grin.

"She's going through all this trouble," M-24 said, "and she ate what you brought her." Her expression had remained completely unreadable the entire time, so there was no way to tell what she thought of the taste, of course. "Come on, she's not going to go through all this trouble to poison us."

He pointedly raised his eyebrows and waited until even M-21 caved. They might not have memories of ordinary life, but the course of basic decency was pretty obvious.

It was also because he was going to need to eat whatever Seira produced that M-24 decided he didn't want to know how she would go about preparing it. If she was doing some noble-style blood sacrifice magic in what would have been the kitchen of the empty apartment, he was better off not knowing.

Because, honestly, the three course meal Seira somehow produced looked and smelled delicious.

"It looks great," M-24 told her so. The fact that Seira blushed under the praise just made M-21 scowl more, giving his place a deeply suspicious look M-21 was giving his plate.

"Where did she even get the plates from?" he muttered to himself.

This was a good point. Utilities aside, they also didn't have any cookware or utensils. Had she materialized them the same way she did with her clothing...?

M-24 shook his head and firmly pushed the thought away. It didn't matter, and he didn't care. With that in mind, he steeled himself and took a bite.

It was as delicious as it looked and smelled.

M-21 had been watching him with morbid fascination, waiting for the moment when he finally stumbled across the proverbial trap, but as M-24 beamed and took another bite, it became obvious that the food really was... at the very least edible. With only creasing suspicion, he gathered up a forkful — where did Seira get forks, too? — and nibbled tentatively.

He could feel M-24's expectant gaze on him. The feeling of 'I told you so' was unmistakable. "It's... fine," M-21 muttered and began to eat in earnest, ducking his head to better ignore Seira's small smile and deepening blush. "But you know," he added after a few moments of silence, broken only by the sound of chewing and crunching, "I think you're supposed to leave the eggshells out."

"Ah..." Seira managed, suddenly stiff as a board, "is that how humans do it...?"

~.~.~

"If nobles don't need to eat, do you still do it for pleasure?" M-24 asked, as the meal began to wind down.

"Not everyone does, but most at least drink tea. My clan and the Landegre had duties in the human countries, so we are more familiar with human culture," Seira explained. "My father and Sir Roussare often recreated recipes they had tried during their travels for us — for me and Sir Roussare's son, Regis."

The amount of new information implied in her casual answer was amazing — that there were multiple clans, with their own duties, that some of those duties related to humans, but others did not, that there was a country or something similar was not a "human" one, but which belonged to nobles...

Many in the Union would have quite literally killed for what they were hearing, and M-21 carefully noted every detail he could. That information might become a useful bargaining chip, against the Union.

Frowning faintly, Seira added, "I hope Regis is eating properly and getting enough sleep. He's still very young."

"Well, he still has their... previous clan head to look after him, right?" M-24 suggested, based on something they must have discussed without M-21 present.

It was a good idea to fish for more information, especially about other "nobles," but... Sneaking a glance at his partner, M-21 tried to hide the unhappy twist of his lips.

That wasn't why M-24 had asked.

"Sir Gejutel is still in Lukedonia," Seira replied. "But Regis is here in the human world. He's preparing for his coming of age, and I was accompanying him. His body and power are still developing, so he needs more rest and care than an adult." She paused, a shadow passing over her usually stoic features. "I am... somewhat concerned about him."

M-24 chuckled quietly. "Well, that's natural. He's like your little brother, isn't he?"

It was just a normal conversation, just small talk. Just because he wanted to know more about her. M-21 could tell — the tension easing slightly in his partner's shoulders, the slight smile tugging at his lips, the crinkling at the corners of his eyes.

Liking someone outside the M series, being interested in them... It had never happened before. And what he felt watching that — M-21 didn't recognize it, but he didn't like it. His chest felt tight. Surreptitiously, he had drifted back, the way one of them usually did to better keep a look out. But now it felt like he was on the outside somehow.

If Seira didn't blame them for what Crombel had done, if M-24 was right and she had tried to fight him because of them, and if she was sharing all of this freely — that was a lot of ifs, but what if it was really possible? What if M-24 had a point and she was their chance out?

Seira was just a girl, even if not a human one, whose power had limits. But she had a history, friends, a home, and an entire race. If they could leverage that—

They, huh? M-21's lips twisted, the thin scar pulling slightly.

"Do you want any help cleaning up?"

"Cleaning?"

"You know, the dishes..."

M-24 gestured to the plates, though they were already practically licked clean. It was annoying to admit, but the food had been delicious, especially compared to tasteless lab rations or the mismatched assortment they usually subsided on. However, Seira only gave the tableware a blank look.

The movement of her power was so subtle that it was nearly unnoticeable as it swept across the plate she was holding, and the small spots of grease and sauce just... flaked away.

Turning it over, Seira showed M-24 the now clean plate — before it too disintegrated, returning to whatever state is had non-existed in before Seira created it. She spread her empty hangs like a magician after a trick, then cleared her throat slightly self-consciously.

"It's not the most elegant use of our power, but it can be quite convenient," she admitted. "Do you want to try?"

M-24 looked at her in surprise. "Do you really think I could? I've never done anything at all like that."

"You use mind control in the same way as a noble would, so there is precedent. I said before, you may have more of our powers as well," Seira said. "There is no loss in trying."

Hesitating, M-24 ran a hand over the top of his head. He couldn't explain it to Seira, but the suggestion made no sense. After all, in the Union, sharing power or knowledge or skill was something that was almost unheard of, or at the very least came with many strings attached. But perhaps it was different if you had power to spare — knowledge and strength to spare.

"Well, I suppose you're right," he finally agreed.

As he turned away and forced himself not to pay attention, M-21 thought he saw Seira's eyes flicker to him for an instance. It must have been his imagination — neither of them seemed to pay him any mind as he silently moved away and out of the room.

If Seira wanted to teach M-24 how nobles did things, did that mean she saw him as a noble, in some way? Or even... not quite someone of her clan, of course, but...

M-21 shook his head sharply.

No. Even if that was the case, it was still crazy. He wouldn't rush in and put their lives on the line, not when there might still be no need for it. The first thing to do, before making a decision like that, was to find out what their options were.

He needed to know — was returning to the Union even an option?

At least, that was what M-21 told himself and the only reasoning he would have admitted to. And if there were other half-formed plans, chasing themselves around in the back of his mind, about the Korean branch's stocks of pills and whether getting any them was at all possible... those were just idle thoughts. He hadn't decided anything yet, that was all.

~.~.~

When M-21 departed during the night, Seira had assumed he was going to scout the area again, or perhaps use that as an excuse to work off some of his nervous energy. It would have been impolite to keep track of him too closely and difficult besides, when his aura was not much different from the many humans in the city. So, closing her eyes, Seira had let herself drift into a healing trance again.

M-24 was the one who found the note, the sudden wavering of his signature with unease and worry immediately drawing Seira's attention.

She glanced over the words calmly, but the corner of her mouth twitched downward.

"It is more unpleasant than I realized," she noted, "from this side."

Yes, getting ditched in the middle of the night was an unpleasant feeling indeed. She would need to apologize to Regis properly.

~.~.~

 **Next: Human Toys**

~.~.~


	5. Human Toys

**Notes:** Two heads are only better than one if they're not both empty. Or full of "Seira" and "elegance."

Special thanks to **thedreaminus** and **Pandora-Twists**

~.~.~

 **Chapter 5: Human Toys**

M-21's plan had been to first spend a while observing the Union's South Korean branch — hoping that the comings and goings of the agents might give him some idea of what the situation was like and what Crombel had done once he returned.

He had started at night, while the civilian building above the underground complex was still empty. That should have made it easier to notice any activity and any deviation from the norm for a Union base, but...

There was nothing.

There hadn't been the slightest movement in or out of the branch, for hours, and that didn't make any sense. Even if Crombel had reported being attacked by Seira — which M-21 thought would be unlikely at best, both because of Crombel's character to hoard information and because of the Union's policy of not showing weakness — and the branch had been put under total lockdown, they and all other agents out on missions would have received urgent orders regarding it.

Was it possible the message had gone out, but he and M-24 had been specifically excluded? Had they been found out somehow? Did the Union suspect them of treason?

No, it that case they would have been ordered to report in, on some pretext.

So then what was it? This silence made no sense at all.

Biting distractedly on his thumbnail, M-21 twisted the situation around in his mind. He couldn't find any answer or any possibility that made sense, no matter how he looked at it. And that meant he would need to go in and investigate in person after all — something he had wanted to avoid, since the chance of getting captured alone was just too high.

Well, at least M-24 wouldn't be left by himself. If his partner had the sense to run and maybe even stick with that girl...

M-21 huffed, smirking faintly. He knew better, even if that was what he hoped for.

Still, he had to go. Better alone than both of them being in danger. Before they made any decision, they had to know — was returning to the Union even an option? Was the Union after them? And... maybe if he was careful about it, he could get set of M-24's pills, just in case.

He waited until civilians began to gather in the building above the branch, filling the area with chatter and the noise of human movement, then finally made his move.

There was a way to reach the branch from the civilian building, by walking in through the front door, but M-21 had no interest in leaving behind more traces of his presence. Circling around the back, he ducked down a narrow alley, toward one of the side entrances.

"Tch, why do they have to make it so pointless complicated...?" he muttered to himself, wedging his fingers under what looked like the metal shutter of a truck delivery bay. It was far heavier than a normal rolling door and, unseen, there was no motor or mechanism to lift it. The entire purpose was a simple test of strength — only a modified human could enter this way.

A successful modified human, at that. Gritting his teeth, and straining M-21 could barely begin to painstakingly drag it upward.

Before, he and M-24 had gone through a different entrance, but that one required requesting access from the security station inside the branch. Flagging his arrival to those in the branch was the last thing M-21 wanted, but using this emergency entrance was still so annoying. His strength had increased over the last three years, of course, so he could at least manage it — but thinking about how easily someone like Jake, or Seira herself could have managed it...

That was when he felt — something suddenly, sharply pressing down against his mind.

His breath stuttered, his entire body freezing, and a single terrifying instance, he couldn't move at all. The shutter slipped from his grasp and slammed shut again with a deafening clang.

He shoved the mental hold off instinctively, from the many times he had practiced against M-24's mind control, but the attack was different. M-24's mental strikes, even in practice, were like a knife, sharp and thin. This was a crushing weight that overwhelmed through its sheer power.

It was a bit like Seira's presence, in a way.

But it couldn't be her. That girl had always avoided causing a scene where civilians would be involved — and, by the sudden silence out in the streets nearby, M-21 could tell that everyone in the area had been affected.

'Another noble?' he guessed, straightening slowly. 'Are they... down in the branch?'

Mind control could clearly go through solid objects. If they were hitting everything in an area, it could have easily come from below...

If that was the case, the situation had suddenly become far more dangerous. Even a noble as young as Seira was far beyond his ability to escape, once they decided to pursue, and their thinking was so different that try to talk around them was like groping around in the dark. The risk-benefit equation had changed, and M-21 quickly recalculated his next move.

With only a slight hesitation, he took a step back and whirled around to hurry away, before whatever had caused the mental attack took notice of him.

Except that, unfortunately, it was already too late for that.

Out in the main street, he could just make out the frozen figures of the passersby — until a shadow appeared in the entrance of the alley, blocking the way.

For a moment, M-21 felt a sense of deja vu. This was exactly how Seira had first approached them. Was it a noble thing? Did they like dramatically stepping into narrow alleys, the light somehow always behind them?

Because the young man who stood in front of him had to be a noble, there was no doubt about it. There was something about his features that was like Seira's, even though it couldn't quite be called a resemblance, a certain delicate smoothness and, of course, those red eyes.

But his expression was completely different from even the cold menace Seira had projected the first time she confronted M-21 and M-24. For the first time, M-21 appreciated just how much she had held back, from the start.

The blond sneered, his lips curling in disgust as he managed to look down at M-21 despite being a fair bit shorter.

"Finally!" he drawled. "We were waiting for one of you human toys to show up. Isn't this place supposed to be your lair in this country?"

M-21 kept his expression smooth with an effort, even as he frantically catalogued everything implied — that the noble could tell he was a modified human, that there was more than one of them, that they hadn't been responsible for whatever was going on with the branch, that they knew enough about the Union to find one of their branches in the first place...

He was practically blind again, and this time running was entirely out of the question.

"And what does one of the esteemed nobles want from us?" he asked instead, narrowing his eyes.

Seira had definitely been holding back — M-21 didn't even see this new noble move before he found himself violently thrown backward, all the way to the end of the alley. He slammed into the hidden entrance hard enough to make the steel shutter screech and bend. The noble's hand was clamped around his neck, making him choke as he glared and struggled.

"Watch your mouth, filth!" the blond snarled. He didn't look so elegant with his face twisted in disgust and rage, but even if M-21 had been reckless enough to taunt him, he couldn't get the words out. "Now, where's Seira?"

'Seira?' They were looking for Seira — but why? Where they her friends, worried about her? They weren't wrong, she had gotten in over her head with Crombel, and with the Union. Or... Her wish was so simple, so straightforward and easy to understand. And yet, she hadn't been able to do anything about it for a hundred years, and she had come alone. There had to be a reason for that.

M-24 was still with her. He couldn't risk his partner getting caught up in this.

"What... the hell is that?" M-21 gritted out, against the nearly crushing grip on his neck.

He was yanked forward, only to be slammed back, the metal shutter groaning and denting further. "Don't lie! Seira came here!" the noble yelled. "Where is she? Tell me!"

His red eyes bored into M-21's, and there was another forceful push against his mind. It had even less effect, as M-21 only glared back — stupidly, he knew it was stupid, and it only made the noble angrier. He drew back his hand, fingertips straight the way Seira's had been when she attacked, and M-21 had barely a moment to drive the strongest kick he could muster to the noble's knee.

It was enough to make the blond stumble and miss, his hand ripping straight through the reinforced steel gate of the hidden entrance behind M-21. He had missed... but the force of his strike still cut into M-21's shoulder, throwing him off balance as blood splattered across the torn metal.

The noble was much, much quicker to regain his footing. He was already drawing back for another attack, and this time M-21 wouldn't be able to avoid getting run clean through—

"Rael!"

Pulling back instinctively, the blond — Rael — glanced behind him. Another noble, a boy who looked even younger than Seira, had jumped down from above and stood glaring at Rael's back disapprovingly. "Stay out of this, Regis," 'Rael' shot back. "This thing isn't human anymore, so it's got nothing to do with your clan's outdated nonsense."

Being seen as less than human or even just an object was hardly anything knew, and M-21 felt mostly a strange sense of satisfaction. He'd know Seira was too weird to be real. There was no way something like the strong being duty-bound to protect the weak made sense. And it didn't — she was just a weird girl, even among nobles.

Of course, that was not a good thing in his situation.

'Regis' glared, undeterred. "That has nothing to do with it! You're too forceful," he said, huffing. "It's inelegant."

"A Landegre, talking about being too forceful?" Rael snorted. "That's too much!"

They looked ready to descend into an inane, childish argument, completely distracted from M-21 and what their actual goal. Even Rael's grip had loosened as he twisted around to scowl at Regis. But even so, what could he do? The alley was a dead end, and the only way out was past both of them. He could try jumping for the roofs, but he knew quite well that nobles were much faster than he was.

That left only one way to run.

M-21 grimaced — but it wasn't as if he had any other options.

"It's because of you that we're in this mess in the first place!" Regis yelled, the argument escalating, and threw his hands up in frustration.

"I was only helping Seira! It was her will!" Rael yelled back. "It's more than you've done!"

And, at the same time, turned away completely, releasing M-21. They really were all just brats, no matter how powerful. He had thought he'd at least need to cause a distraction, but—

Lashing out sharply, M-21 planted his foot in the small of Rael's back and kicked away as hard as he could. Rael stumbled several steps, taken off guard, with a distinctly inelegant squawk, and had the situation been different, M-21 would have appreciated it and the flabbergasted look on Regis's face.

As it was, he had other priorities.

Without waiting for Rael to respond, he spun around and grabbed the edge of the torn shutter. It cut into his hand as he hauled himself through the narrow gap and into the darkness of the branch's hidden entrance. Before either of the nobles could react, he vanished down the empty elevator shaft just beyond the gate.

~.~.~

Rael started into the gap in mute shock. He couldn't believe that sub-human filth had dared to, to— kick him!

He spun around, reaching around and helplessly trying to touch the place where he'd been hit. Judging by Regis's stunned expression that was quickly turning to amusement at the edges, there was a dirty footprint there, in the middle of his back. For a moment, Rael wavered between taking the time to banish it and just giving chase immediately.

No, it didn't matter, he thought as he forced himself to take a slow, steadying breath. That thing wouldn't get away. No matter how fast and far it ran, he could still sense its unnatural aura if he focused. There was nothing else alive down there, and he was the Kertia heir. He would catch up.

What he couldn't allow was to let something like that affect him. His brother had told him that too — don't let the enemy control the flow of battle.

"Hmph," Rael made a sound like this was only a small annoyance and, straightening his back, casually reached up to brush off his shoulder. His power swept lightly over his clothes, restoring them to perfect condition again. He could still feel Regis's amusement behind him, but what did that brat know anyway? "Let's go," Rael snapped, striding forward purposefully. "And this time, don't get in my way."

With a flick of his hand, he demolished the remains of the steel shutter and the bars of the elevator gate behind it. It wouldn't do to have to duck or possibly cut himself by squeezing through a narrow hole, after all.

"Stop doing stupid, inelegant things, and I won't have to keep stopping you," Regis shot back, scowling. "What were you even thinking, mind controlling all those humans?"

Rael didn't bother replying, escaping the annoying conversation by jumping down the service elevator shaft. It was a long way down — several stories at least — but he plummeted without fear. It was a drop that a modified human was expected to survive, so it was nothing to a noble. He cancelled his momentum just as he reached the bottom, hovering in the air for a moment before touching down lightly.

For all his blabbering about elegance, Regis didn't think to, or perhaps couldn't, do something that simple. He landed heavily behind Rael, making the narrow, featureless corridor shake.

"Hey! Rael!" he called out, hurrying after him. "Wait! Are you sure we should be doing this? Going into one of the human organization's bases is different from just questioning one of their people. Seira's not here, and..."

He didn't want to admit it, but he was worried. They knew nothing about how strong modified humans had become, except that the Lord and the clan heads had not moved against the Union despite suspecting them of harboring the traitors. That had to mean they weren't enemies to be taken lightly. Rael might have been past his coming of age, but neither of them came even close to matching a clan head, and they were on their own.

"If you're so worried, you can wait outside," Rael called back dully. "Besides, there's nothing to be afraid of. Look, they're all already dead."

The corridor to the back entrance had opened up into a larger hallway, half in shadow with the same tinted glow of the emergency lights. Rael had paused in the center, his eyes sweeping down the hall, his expression unchanging — despite the sight that greeted him, which made Regis, when he finally caught up, freeze and stare.

Rael's description had been accurate. Everyone was dead.

The hallway was strew with bodies, splatters of blood painted across the walls, floor, and even ceiling. The white labcoats of the scientists, the uniforms of the security forces, the plainclothes of the agents, everyone in the branch had been slaughtered indiscriminately. A while back, it looked like. The dark blood stains were long since dry.

"This is..." Regis trailed off, looking around uncomfortably. It was his first time seeing such a scene, and unlike Rael, he couldn't remain completely unmoved, even if they were all those who had given up their humanity for something as petty as power. "Who did this?"

Rael snorted. "You can't guess?"

"You don't think— Seira?" Regis blurted out, aghast. "She wouldn't do something like this!"

"Oh, please. And why not? These aren't those humans you Loyard and Landegre love so much. They're just scum," Rael said. His lips curled in contempt. "It was their kind that helped kill your parents. Why wouldn't Seira make them pay?"

For a moment, Regis just stared at him, brow furrowing. "You really don't know Seira at all," he said finally.

Something about his words and his expression made Rael hesitate, reminding him of the look that Seira would sometimes turn on him. He'd thought so too, those times — that he didn't understand Seira or what she was thinking.

Even though he loved her and wanted to marry her, Seira...

"Come on," Regis called back, moving past him and turning left down the hallway. His expression twitched as he tried not to look at the bodies. "He went this way. We need to hurry and catch up, so we can find out what he knows. That's our best lead to Seira. We know she came to this country. It can't be a coincidence that this happened at the same time."

They moved in tense silence. It should have been easy to catch up, especially with Rael's Kertia speed, but tracking a human's aura, even a modified one, was not so simple — it gave only a sense of the direction he was in, not the path he took. More than once, a fork in the hallway left them uncertain, and Rael barely held back his frustration when they had to double back.

"I'll rip its legs off this time," he hissed, glaring darkly in the direction of the modified human's weak aura.

Regis didn't respond as he stubbornly pressed on in the lead. The tension in his shoulders had been steadily building, corridor after corridor of blood and bodies under the flickering, tinted emergency lights quickly wearing away at his composure.

He almost missed it — the splashes of blood that were just a little less dark, that smeared when he stepped in them. Fresh blood that hadn't dried yet... they were catching up.

Until, finally, a flicker of movement up ahead, quickly vanishing around the corner.

"Wait, Rael—!" Regis called out as he felt Rael's aura coil and tense next to him.

Rael ignored him. In the next instance, he vanished from sight — taking off too quickly to follow, even though Regis knew exactly where he was going.

"Rael!" Regis yelled furiously, gritting his teeth and trying to put on an extra burst of speed. "Don't kill him! We still need— guh!" Scrambling to turn the corner, he nearly crashed into the wall. Down the hallway around the bend, he could see Rael, who had already overtaken the modified human and, dodging a futile swipe of his claws, grabbed him by the throat again. "Rael—!"

Given his usual lack of self-control, it was entirely possible that Rael really would start ripping off limbs. And even setting aside that they did need answers, about what had happened at the Union branch and about Seira's whereabouts, something about that didn't sit right with Regis, even toward a modified human.

Having a scuffle with Rael wasn't something Regis wanted, especially since he wasn't sure whether Rael would stop even then, but he couldn't just stand by either...

Distracted, he almost missed it. He had been missing it for a while, in reality. They both had been, focused completely on the chase and the modified human's flickering aura.

They hadn't noticed another presence approaching — a very, very familiar presence.

Regis only caught sight of it by chance, out of the corner of his eye. A flash of pale and dark in the tinted gloom of the emergency lights, back the way they'd come. Instinctively, he tried to backpedal against his own momentum, his head craning back. Even before he fully registered what he was seeing, he felt himself going pale and cold.

'S... Seira...'

Seira — and he didn't need to feel her swelling, crackling aura to know that she was angry.

She crossed the corridor in a flash, appearing next to him in the next moment. But she didn't spare more than a glance toward him, her attention fixed firmly on Rael, who had frozen as her aura washed over them. He turned stiffly, eyes wide over his shoulder.

"Rael," Seira said in a quiet voice that carried easily in the stillness, "let him go — now."

"S-Seira..."

The modified human dropped to the ground, wincing and clutching at his wounds, and wisely took the chance to scramble away. But rather than obeying Seira's order, Ral had loosened his grip out of sheer shock.

"Seira," Rael repeated more surely, a smile breaking over his face. "You're here! I was so worried when you just took off. You know I'd help you get rid of these useless human toys, you didn't have to hide it..."

Regis made a face. 'You weren't the only one worried,' he complained mentally. 'And you didn't listen to me at all. I told you, Seira wouldn't do that.'

Her expression hadn't shifted — only because it was already frigid and forbidding. Anyone except Rael would have had the good sense to stop talking there and then, but he kept smiling and, spreading his hands as if in welcome, took a step toward Seira.

Before he got any further, or said anything even more foolish, Rael stopped, his eyes narrowing. He and Regis noticed it at the same time — another aura. It had been drowned out by Seira's anger, but they finally both registered the presence of another modified human, a moment before he stepped into view.

Snarling, Rael spun around, just as a hulking figure emerged behind him, moving swiftly to his comrade's side.

"Rael," Seira cut him off, her tone sharp and reprimanding.

For once, Regis sympathised with Rael. The blank, confused expression he turned toward her showed what Regis felt too. It didn't make sense. Why did it seem like Seira was protecting the modified humans?

Seira was a straightforward person who didn't hesitate to say and do exactly what she felt was right. That was why Regis had been taken so completely off guard when she just took off — but even that was straightforward in a way.

So if it looked like Seira wanted to protect them...

"S-Seira, do you..." Regis said slowly, "...know these two?"

Rael stared at him, shocked, flabbergasted, and horrified at the idea. Unfortunately, Regis couldn't even enjoy seeing such an inelegant, stupid expression on his face, as Seira calmly and simply nodded.

~.~.~

"You can't be serious, Seira!" Rael hissed, darting a furious glance toward the two modified humans. "Those human toys are—"

Seira didn't need to say anything this time, her cold glare making his jaw snap shut instinctively.

"Don't call them that," she ordered.

"Why?!" Rael demanded, sounding equally frustrated and helpless.

They had moved the rest of the way to the central control room of the branch, where M-21 and M-24 busied themselves trying to extract any information about what might have happened from the heavily damaged main computer. The control room hadn't been spared, and Regis swept another unhappy gaze over the bodies lying around them before turning back to the circling, pointless argument between Seira and Rael.

"It's painful to agree with him, but I don't understand either," he admitted, ignoring Rael's scowl at the first half of the remark. "It's true, isn't it? They gave up their humanity for power—"

"They didn't," Seira said, short and flat.

It took an effort of will for Regis not to glance at Rael for confirmation or support. Instead, he glanced at the two modified humans again and, looking back to Seira, forced himself to nod in acknowledgement. If she said so, he'd believe her — even if Regis wasn't entirely sure Seira was thinking straight. Rael must have not noticed it yet, but he could tell... the strange trace of aura around the taller one.

'Seira...' Regis thought, but kept quiet.

"Don't attack them again," she went on, firmly, turning to Rael. "I can't berate you for doing it the first time. I did the same. But if you do that again, I won't accept it quietly."

Rael stared at her, aghast. "You'd fight me... for those things?! Why? Why are you protecting them?! It's because of human trash like that your clan is gone! Why are you acting like there's something wrong with just killing them? You should—"

"What I should do is not for you to decide," Seira cut him off sharply. "Neither is how I avenge my clan, or how I choose to live. Whether you understand my decisions or not, if you can't accept them, then go back to Lukedonia."

The cold ultimatum hung in the air, its weight stifling any further protests Rael might have made. Hanging his head, he gritted his teeth. His clenched fists trembled, as did his aura.

"Seira..." Rael gritted out, his expression hidden. "You'd really fight me... over those things?"

Regis tensed, instinctively moving toward Seira's side. If it came to an actual fight, that wouldn't help — Rael was more than twice their age and had always been exceptionally powerful. But Seira herself only pursed her lips, her gaze unyielding.

"Don't call them that," she repeated.

The tension mounted as Rael and Seira stared each other down, neither willing to give ground.

"Hey!" The sudden interruption made the three nobles jump in surprise, just a little, as all of them turned to face M-21, who had approached unnoticed. He scowled at them, crossing his arms. "Can you flirt later? We're done over here."

"F-flirt..." Rael stammered.

"He's not my type," Seira protested, pursing her lips unhappily.

M-21 didn't acknowledge their reactions — which somehow still managed to convey a great deal of dubiousness. "We didn't find anything," he said bluntly. "The entire system's been completely wiped, and not just because the hardware's been ripped up. This wasn't just a killing spree. Someone destroyed everything here on purpose."

"Typical," Rael snorted. "You really are useless, you—"

A sharp look from Seira made him scowl and cut himself off. But the earlier drive toward violence had been broken, and he only crossed his arms, looking away.

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" she asked, turning back to M-21 and M-24, who had joined his partner.

The two modified humans exchanged a look. "No," M-21 admitted sourly. "There's a lot of people who would like to, but the Union is the strongest organization in the world, has been for a long time. I don't know any group that could pull off something like this, or would even have the guts to try."

Seira nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "You can't think of anything at all?" she asked.

M-21's mouth twisted unhappily. "There's no evidence of anything," he said. "But... the timing's too suspicious, right? Well, if I had to guess... You know what's most likely to kill you, in the Union? It's not an enemy. It's other Union agents, or scientists, or executives."

"Infighting?" Seira said. Her gaze passed quickly around them, at the numerous bodies that lay haphazardly in the rooms and halls.

"I wouldn't put it past Crombel, that's for sure," M-21 said. "He might even take the opportunity to blame it on you."

"Wait," Regis spoke up for the first time. "If that happens... should we warn everyone back in Lukedonia? What if the Union decides to retaliate because of this?"

Rael snorted derisively. "Forget it. As if they could do anything against Lukedonia," he said. "It doesn't matter. I heard from my brother — we never trusted them to begin with, and if they try something, they'll get crushed."

When it came to defending themselves, Lukedonia was not afraid of the human Union. Rather, they had been unwilling to make themselves the aggressors without sufficient evidence, for a number of reasons — the previous Lord's mandate that nobles remove themselves from human affairs, the danger of innocent civilians becoming dragged into the fighting, the wide spread of the Union's forces and daunting scope of rooting them all out once the conflict began...

That didn't mean they would bow to any demands, however, and they wouldn't hesitate in the face of an invasion.

'My brother won't lose to some humans,' Rael thought. His expression shifted into something slightly strained. 'No, the real worry is what he'll do when he finds out about all this...'

What he would do to Rael, for the multitude of improper and quite likely illegal things he had done and enabled Seira to do. Just thinking about it almost made him shudder. "There's no need to contact Lukedonia," Rael said, a bit too quickly and firmly, "at all."

Reading something of that last thought in his expression, Regis also paled and swallowed heavily. "R-right," he agreed.

Silently, Seira nodded.

Looking between the three of them, M-21 thought, 'Unbelievable. Did they run away from home or something? All that power, and they're really just brats.' His expression twisted into a scowl. Brats that he'd lost to like it wasn't even a fight.

He could just feel M-24 smirking at him.

~.~.~

 **Next: We Need a New Power**

~.~.~


	6. We Need a New Power

**Notes:** This and chapter 7 were originally one chapter, but got too long. So the title was originally supposed to be the one on chapter 7...

Again, big thanks to **thedreaminus** and **Pandora Twists**.

~.~.~

 **Chapter 6: We Need a New Power**

With no better options, they ended up regrouping at the unused apartment building. While Seira pulled aside Regis and Rael to catch them up on everything that had happened on her end, M-24 finally managed to corner M-21 to check on his wounds.

"It's fine, it's already stopped bleeding," M-21 tried to wave his partner off. It was even mostly true — his healing rate had increased a great deal over their three years as agents, and even the deeper wound on his shoulder had started to close.

M-24 was not pacified by that. "You're lucky we got there when we did," he said, pursing his lips as he managed to get him out of his trench coat and got a better look at the dry bloodstains across his previously white shirt. "And running off like that... why did you go alone?"

"Because it made more sense. If they were on to us, at least one of us would still have a chance to run," M-21 said. He could feel M-24's unconvinced stare and studiously avoided his gaze. "We needed to know where we stood with the Union, before we went rushing off into anything."

That had been a failure. Whatever happened, it made returning to the Union even more complicated. If they reported in now, they'd certainly be questioned about the massacre, even if they knew nothing about it. With the Union operated, they might very well be blamed as convenient scapegoats. At the very least, they'd be examined thoroughly... and that was something they couldn't afford, given the abilities they'd kept hidden.

"Well, now we know," M-21 muttered bitterly.

"There's no point in returning," M-24 agreed — and smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, exactly, but it wasn't a fake one either. A complicated, wry expression that nonetheless seemed accepting and almost anticipating. "So," he said, glancing at M-21, "what do you want to do? Hah, I never thought I'd get to ask that for real!"

M-21 stared at him, brow slowly furrowing in incomprehension and then anger.

What he wanted... "That doesn't matter!" he snapped, making his partner jump in surprise. "What we need to do is figure out a way to survive! You — how many pills do you have left?"

He gritted his teeth when M-24 only continued to smile calmly. "And what does that matter? There's nothing we can do about it," M-24 pointed out. "Come on, don't make that face. You never know, maybe I'll be able to make it without them."

"That's—! That's not something we can count on," M-21 bit out. "And you know that!"

"Yeah," M-24 agreed quietly. "But it's still true. There's nothing else to try. So the only thing left is to do what we want. Don't tell me you're not even a little excited?"

Looking away, M-21 only shrugged one shoulder wordlessly. Because M-24 was right. No matter how he twisted it around in his head, no matter how he tried to find a way around it, he couldn't think of a single plan to help his partner.

~.~.~

Seira was alone when M-21 found her in one of the empty rooms, staring out the open balcony door. A faint wind tugged at her hair, and for the first time, her posture was something less than perfectly straight and proud, her shoulders slumping under some invisible weight.

"How did it go?" M-21 asked before he could think better of it.

Closing her eyes, Seira sighed soundlessly. "Regis and Rael will... need some time to consider everything I told them," she said, choosing her words carefully.

"So they stormed off," M-21 surmised far more bluntly. "Are you still going to do it? Go after the Ninth?"

"Yes," Seira said without hesitation. "My father is still alive. If he is there, I can't leave him in that place. ...But I will wait for Regis. I left him behind before, and it was unfair of me to take the decision from him. I did not appreciate how it feels to be on the receiving end."

Feeling the pointed jab connected, M-21 scwoled. 'What do you even care,' he thought mutinously. Except that she did care, enough to confront one of her people over attacking M-21 and even over something as meaningless as what he called them.

"Rael as well... He is very strong," Seira went on, her lips thinning as they came to a complicated subject. "He is only below the clan heads in power."

"So you want his help, even if you don't get along," M-21 said. "The Ninth is probably stronger than Crombel, since he's an Elder, not just an executive. And there's no telling what kinds of weapons he's got at his lab. He's head of modification research for the entire Union. Well, putting it bluntly, attacking his base is insane."

Something almost like a wince passed over Seira's features. "I understand that," she said quietly, a pained furrow in her brown and at the corner of her lips. It was the closest to uncertainty she had ever shown. "I understand that, but I can't turn back."

'This girl is going to get herself killed.' M-21 had thought that before too, but he couldn't muster up the same disdain and indifference anymore — not that there was anything he could do. He couldn't convince her to stop, not when her determination was so clear, and the idea of helping her was a joke. What could a failure like him hope to contribute?

"And those clan heads, the rest of your people... You can't ask them?" he guessed. "If it's to rescue your dad..."

"There's no proof," Seira said. "They would just tell me to wait for the Kertia to confirm his whereabouts, before they make any move in the human world. But it's already been a century. How long must I wait? I want to help him...!"

Wanting to help your family, wanting to save them from the Union, M-21 could understand that all too well. The frustration in her voice made something in his chest twinge painfully.

'What do you want to do?' his partner had asked him.

Forgetting survival and common sense, what he wanted was...

"We'll go with you," M-21 said. There wasn't any doubt that M-24 would choose that. And M-21 would stay with him no matter what.

What he wanted most of all was to not be separate from his comrades ever again.

Seira looked at him intently, like she wanted to protest, but she knew better than to ask if he was sure. "You have a strong will," she said instead. "I appreciate it."

~.~.~

When M-21 headed out to do another quick patrol of the town, M-24 took the opportunity to rest. He was overdue for a dose, and the symptoms had already started. His head was pounding and spinning, and it was getting hard to hide the trembling in his hands.

He wasn't sure he'd been able to hide it in the first place — M-21 was very observant. But for the sake of the tenuous temporary peace they stood in, they both seemed willing to pretend.

Seira's approaching aura drew M-24 out of his light doze. He'd gotten better at sensing her, and he opened his eyes just as she kneeled in front of him. There was a lightly steaming cut in her hands, which she set down with a quiet click.

"What's this?" M-24 wondered, picking it up and blowing on it gently. He took a small sip. "Soup?"

Seira nodded. "I heard this is what humans eat when they are sick," she said.

Pausing mid-sip, M-24 slowly lowered the cup and cradled it in his hands. "So you noticed," he said.

"You've been sleeping a lot, and your movements are a little off," she said. "Your aura is trembling too. It's alright. It'll take Regis and Rael a while to return, so you should have time to recover."

'It'd be better to go sooner,' M-24 thought, but he wasn't sure how to even begin addressing the issue. He hesitated to tell her — like M-21, she wouldn't be able to do anything, he was sure.

No, it would be worse if she tried. Given Seira's straightforward, determined nature, she might do something insane like try to break into another Union branch or take a Union scientist hostage and make them create the pills... except only Crombel knew the right formula.

It was bad enough M-21 was winding himself into tense circles, ready to snap. M-24 didn't want to even chance Seira's reaction. Not when he'd already accepted his fate.

"How long do you think it'll take them to come around?" he asked instead, taking another sip of the soup. Like all of Seira's cooking, it was quite good — except that she seemed to have added about three times the necessary bayleaves for some reason.

"I won't wait more than a month," Seira said in a tone of reassurance that didn't match her words. "If they do not make their decision in that time, I will confront them." There was a subtle twitch in her expression, like she was forcing herself to say it.

'I suppose a month isn't long to a noble,' M-24 thought, smiling wryly, 'if a century is just enough to get impatient.'

A century — he couldn't even imagine that much time. His memories stretched back less than a decade, from the first moment he became aware of his surroundings in the labs. Was that why Seira could be so sure of herself and her way of living, why she faced everything without letting her doubts make her tremble for even a moment?

"Hey, Seira," he said slowly, "after this... can we stay with you?"

"Of course you will," Seira replied without the slightest pause.

The quickness of her reaction threw M-24 off for a moment, and the two of them stared at each other for a beat. Slowly, Seira's expression shifted into realization — she'd forget something important again.

"Ah... If you would like...?" she offered.

She'd forgotten all about actually asking them and just decided on her own that she'd be taking them with her afterwards.

"...Pfft, hahaha!" Wheezing out a choked breath, M-24 threw back his head and laughed.

Folding her hands in her lap, posture stiff, Seira endured it bravely, but the red blush on her cheeks was telling. Even if it was mortifying to make such a misstep and then give herself away so gracelessly, she couldn't be too angry. At least his aura had lightened a little.

Still smiling, M-24 shook his head. "Yes, we would like to," he said, even though he suspected M-21 would not be nearly as cheerful in accepting. 'Like' rarely worked into his partner's calculations. "Not just me," he added. "M-21 too."

Seira nodded slowly, watching him carefully as if expecting some trick — that was another thing that seemed obvious to her.

"He's... he tries to act tough, but once he warms up to you, he'll stick with you no matter what," M-24 went on, his tone fond. "He's got a nasty temper, but he's got a good head on his shoulders too. And he's always reliable when you need it the most, even if he thinks you're doing something crazy or stupid."

He chuckled, knowing that M-21 had been thinking exactly that every moment since they had met Seira. But he had never thrown up his hands in disgust, no matter how much he wanted to.

Seira herself only listened patiently.

"He's a good friend," M-24 concluded firmly. "That's why... look after him, okay?"

It seemed like a simple request. But something about it felt too heavy, and Seira hesitated to reply, staring at him with a growing sense of unease. "...Yes," she said finally. "I will..."

M-24 only smiled.

~.~.~

The strange conversation stayed with her, as did the gnawing sense that something wasn't right. Although it was terribly impolite, Seira couldn't help but keep a closer watch over M-24's aura. Her observations were only more troubling — his state seemed to fluctuate without any reason or pattern, sometimes stable, sometimes declining, sometimes evening out again.

No amount of soup or sleep seemed to help, and it had started to affect M-21 as well, his own aura trembling faintly in sympathetic aching.

But Seira was a noble, and as M-24 had noted, they were a patient lot, by human standards. So it was only natural that M-21 would crack first.

"You nobles have lots of powers, right?" he asked with little preamble, after suddenly stalking up to her. It wasn't a question that required an answer, or the one he wanted to ask — that came next. "Can you heal too?"

He tensed a little as Seira turned and pinned him with a piercing look. "What's going on?" she asked flatly.

"Do you have the power to heal?" M-21 repeated, refusing to back down.

They stared at each other for a long moment, Seira's eyes narrowing. "This," she said, "is the second time I've been approached with a strange question that makes no sense. I want to know what is going on with you two."

"Two...?" M-21 parroted, his brow furrowing. "What did M-24 say?"

Seira almost answered, before managing to catch herself. She was well aware that M-21 didn't trust or particularly like her. Bringing up that idea that she would 'look after him' could only lead to an unnecessary derail in the conversation.

"What's going on?" she asked again. Then, her expression and tone softening slightly, added, "I want to help you, but I can't if you don't tell me."

"You... really do, don't you," M-21 mused. There was a pensive look on his face as he studied her, searching for something. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision. "It's... it's M-24. He..." Pausing, he tried to figure out how to explain it. He'd never said any of this out loud before. "We're failures, you know? The experiments they did on us didn't work right. Most of our comrades couldn't even survive outside the tubes, and the rest died in the testing phase. M-24 and I were the only ones who stabilized enough to become agents."

'The last ones,' Seira thought. 'They're the last ones too.' Like her - the last of the Loyard clan, everyone always thought when they looked at her, even though that wasn't true.

"But even for us... our bodies were a mess. We had to take these pills to keep from falling apart," M-21 went on bitterly. "I stopped needing them, after a while, but M-24... he still has to take them. And we... don't have a lot left."

"And that means..." Seira said slowly and far too blankly, "he doesn't have a lot of time left. Is that what you're saying?"

M-21 snarled. "Yes! That's what I'm telling you!" he snapped. His clenched fists trembled as he glared at her. "Without those pills, he'll die! But there's no way to get any more! I looked... I looked at the Korean branch, but the stocks were destroyed. And it's not like it's easy to make! There weren't any records of the formula in the Union databases. Only Crombel knows it, so... so..."

He trailed off, his shoulders trembling as he hung his head.

So there was nothing they could do.

For several long moments, neither said anything further. Seira's expression remained an unreadable mask. She blinked slowly, motionless except for the shallow in and out of her breathing.

She moved suddenly - spinning around and moving away with brisk steps.

"Wait! Where are you going?" M-21 demanded.

Seira paused, without turning, and he flinched back instinctively as her roiling aura crashed over him, heavy enough to be almost tangible, before she managed to reel it back and suppress it again.

"My... apologies," Seira enunciated carefully. "But I... need some time alone."

She didn't wait for his response. The balcony door slammed open, the glass rattling ominously, and a gust of wind seemed to rush through the room as Seira vanished from sight with inhuman speed. There was a flash of her figure on the railing, before she disappeared again, racing across the rooftops.

If M-21 tried to call out again, she didn't hear. The furious, shapeless noise in her head drowned out everything.

There was nothing she could do.

The thought echoed hollowly. What was the point of being a noble, a pureblood heir, a proud member of the Loyard clan, if she could never do anything to help? There had to be something. There had to be. If Crombel was the only one who knew the formula, then she just needed to force him to make more. Even if she had been defeated before, this time she wouldn't fail, she couldn't accept anything else-

M-24's prediction of her reaction was entirely accurate.

She had been zigzagging aimlessly across the city, rooftop to rooftop, as her thoughts spiralled, but now Seira took a sharp turn and shot forward in a straight line. It wasn't that she had a clear destination in mind, but the need to act was strangling. Even though she knew it was foolish, and she could almost imagine the protests she'd receive when the others found out.

"-ra! Seira!"

...She wasn't imagining that. Someone was calling her.

Killing her momentum sharply, Seira stopped at the edge of a skyscraper and turned to watch in surprise as Regis landed nearby and approached slowly. It was like a splash of cold water down her back. Closing her eyes, Seria let out a shaky breath.

What was she doing? She'd promised to never just take off again, and yet...

"Were you looking for me and Rael? It hasn't been that long yet," Regis muttered sulkily, but the way he avoided meeting her gaze made it obvious he was displeased with himself for his own hesitation and delay.

"...No, it hasn't," Seira agreed. Glancing at him and away, she added, "I'm sorry, for before."

"You already said that," Regis pointed out. He crossed his arms and huffed. "I told you, I understand and accept your will. I will support you."

She couldn't help smiling - he looked so cute, acting so honorable and dependable. A Landegre, through and through.

"Seira!" Regis protested as she reached out and patted him on the head. But despite his glower, he let her do as she wished. "Rael's the same, you know. It's nothing worth noting. Those two modified humans too..." When she finally pulled back, he studied her with a frown. "About those two - are you going to let them come?"

"It is their will," Seira said. "Do you distrust them?"

"It's not that. I can't say I trust them, but if you do, that's enough," he said. "But... they're weak. Their power will not be enough to protect them. They may end up being used against you, just like... back then."

Just like the weak humans had been used as hostages against their parents.

Regis's scowl deepened as he misinterpreted her silence. "Seira... don't tell me you're going to lend them your power?" he demanded. "That's against the Lord's law! It's not like running away or fighting the human Union! You'll be punished for real if you do that!"

'Lend them... my power?'

It took Seira a moment to understand what he meant. He didn't mean just supporting them or fighting for them. That particular turn of phrase was one Gejutel had used to describe a certain practice that the previous Lord had outlawed long before even before their parents' time.

Contracts.

Taking another being's blood and forging a bond to share power between them.

"You are! You're considering it!" Regis exclaimed, staring at her in horrified shock. "Seira!"

She had forgotten all about that possibility, until he had mentioned it - but he was right. She was considering it now, if not for the reasons he thought.

'Those who enter into a contract gain characteristics of nobles, as well as their power,' she thought back to what Gejutel had told them. Those characteristics included making their own contracts, but in a weaker, unstable form, which lead to the eventual creation of mutants and what humans colloquially considered vampires.

But more importantly, it would also include a noble's superior regeneration ability.

"Perhaps you are right," Seira said, turning to Regis. "But if it works, then any punishment will be worth it."

"Even Eternal Sleep?" Regis shot back.

She nodded slowly, but her reply wasn't comforting at all. "That would be irresponsible. If we are to enter into a contract, I would have a responsibility. In that case," she said, "I will not return to Lukedonia." And thus, would avoid being sentenced in the first place.

Expression steadily more horrified, Regis couldn't even find the words to protest.

~.~.~

 **Next: Better Than New**

~.~.~


	7. Better Than New

~.~.~

 **Chapter 7: Better Than New**

Seira did not waste time on pleasantries once they were alone.

"I don't have the power to heal," she said bluntly, "but there may be a way."

M-24 took a moment longer to understand, since he hadn't been there for the last conversation, but M-21's reaction made her meaning clear. "You... you can help? How?"

'You told her?' M-24 thought, shooting his partner a scolding look. M-21 only huffed, refusing to be chastised. It had paid off, hadn't it?

"There may be a way," Seira repeated. The look on her face was serious and cautious. "There is a way for me to lend you some of my power - if we form a contract through blood."

"Blood... Ah, I get it," M-24 said, nodding thoughtfully.

On the verge of continuing her explanation, Seira paused and looked at him in surprise. "You do?"

"Wait, you mean something like when M-24 bites a human?" M-21 wondered, looking between them with a frown. "Maybe they're stronger than normal humans... but turning him into an infectee isn't going to help!"

"Bites...?" Seira muttered. Disgust passed over her face.

"If I bite a human and take their blood, they turn into what we call an infectee," M-24 explained. "They're stronger and faster than a normal human, but they can't go out into sunlight and they need to drink blood often to survive."

"A degenerated mutant," Seira judged. "You have that kind of characteristic too... Your powers are already similar to a noble's. But a contract with a noble is much more stable and precise. There are no negative physical side effects. The opposite - your constitution should improve as you gain some of a noble's regenerative power."

"Should?" M-21 said, his eyes narrowing.

"I have never seen one," she admitted. "I've only heard about them."

There was an unhappy twist on his lips, but M-21 didn't say anything else. 'Should' was still the best chance they had, and both of them turned to M-24, waiting for his decision.

"Do you even need to ask?" M-24 joked lightly, raising one eyebrow. "But I'm guessing there's a catch, if it's like what I do with the infectees."

Seira nodded slowly. "Forcing someone to act against their will is the lowest act for a noble. To do so would be against everything I believe in, as a member of the Loyard clan and as myself," she said. "But... a contract would give me the power to control you. That is an undeniable truth."

"I thought so," M-24 said. He shrugged, still smiling. "That's fine. I accept."

"Just like that?" M-21 blurted out, staring at his partner. "At least protest a little!"

"She already promised she wouldn't use it," M-24 pointed out, his smile widening in a way that made M-21 scowl. "Besides, I trust Seira. We both know she'd die before abandoning her beliefs. If I have to put my life in someone's hands, I don't think there's anyone better."

M-21 glanced at Seira, glaring - but the sight of a pleased blush on her cheeks was too incongruous for him to stay suspicious. He was the one who had gone to her for help in the first place. It was just that, he couldn't but feel...

That kind of bond - through blood and power - might even be stronger than the tie between fellow experiments.

Well, wasn't it for the best though? A connection made based on shared misery was hardly something to treasure. Something that came from a choice on both sides was certainly better. The least he could do was keep his unsettled feelings to himself and let his partner-

"And you?"

M-21 jumped as Seira addressed him suddenly. "W-what about me?" he wondered.

"Do you wish to enter a contract as well?" Seira clarified. "The two of you always go together. So I am asking you to confirm. Will you be entering into a contract with me?" She nodded to herself, pleased - this time, she hadn't just assumed.

"I..." M-21 glanced uncertainly at his partner, but M-24 only raised his eyebrows - leaving the choice to him.

Looking at Seira again, M-21 tried to think about it logically.

Entering a contract would make him stronger. They were planning an assault on an Elder's base - more power would only be a boon. Even if his body was more stable and a contract wasn't necessary, there would definitely be a benefit to forming one.

It would give Seira control over him, but did that really matter? She was already more than capable of overpowering them and forcing them to obey the normal way, and if she took control of M-24, there was nothing M-21 would be able to do about it, whether he was in a contract with her himself or not...

His expression remained carefully blank out of habit, but M-24 knew him well enough to see the thoughts frantically whirling away in his head. He clapped M-21 across the back, making him stagger a little.

"You're thinking too hard," M-24 said. "Just decide - do you want to make a contract with Seira or not?"

'Want...' That again, M-21 thought with a huff.

Someone had to be the voice of reason here, without getting swept away by desires or righteousness or feelings. Seira was strong, but she was all too ready to run off to do what she thought was right, no matter how low the chances of survival. And M-24 was all too ready to follow her, dragged along by his admiration.

Of course M-21 was going with them, either way. The idiots would get themselves killed otherwise.

But. If he really could choose...

He shook his head, slowly. "I don't want it," he said, to Seira and her offer.

Because... He wasn't like M-24. He did trust her. Seira had proven herself that much. But - if he could choose, he wanted to remain free, unbound to anyone's control, no matter who it was.

...He could feel M-24 grinning at him, and he shot his partner a scathing, irritated look. He was regretting it already. There wasn't a single benefit from that choice, and if he ended up needing that power, it would be too late for regrets. Why had he said that, so decisively, while trying to look cool-?

"Well, get on with it already," M-21 snapped, avoiding both their gazes.

"Well, then," M-24 drew out in a last bit of teasing before turning to Seira. "How do you want to do this? You said a contract is made through blood, but I can't imagine you biting someone..."

"Bite?" she said again, with the same revolted tone as before. "There's no need for something so inelegant. Just a small cut - one drop as a medium is enough."

Neither of them carried anything like a pocket knife, and unlike M-21, he didn't have claws. But there was something he did have. Opening his mouth, he let his fangs lengthen and, fully anticipating the reaction, ran his thumb along the sharp edge of one.

Seira's expression twitched as she tried to hide her disgust. Fortunately, she didn't seem to pick up on M-24's amused smirk.

A few drops of blood welled up from the shallow cut before it started to close, even with M-24's weaker healing. Composing herself again, Seira reached out and let the blood smear against her pale fingertips. She paused, meeting M-24's gaze and holding it.

"M-24," she said, and it was startling because she so rarely used their names - their numbers, "we shall enter a contract of the soul, to be bound by blood and will. Do you consent?"

Her voice held the even cadence of a ritual, even if it was one Seira herself would have never witnessed or heard.

Last chance, the point of no return.

A pause, as M-24 closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, letting his mind quiet. There were no doubts, underneath everything.

"Yes," he said, looking back at her with a faint smile.

Seira nodded, simple but grave. Lifting her hand, she touched her fingertips to her lips.

That was all. There was no noise and no flash of light. The press of power of shifting was tangible only for an instance, before M-24 gasped quietly and swayed. His legs gave out just as M-21 rushed to his side, catching him before he could fall to his knees.

"Are you alright?" M-21 demanded frantically. His eyes darted over his partner's form, but there were no injuries to see. There never had been.

M-24 chuckled lightly and shook his head as if to clear it. "...Yeah," he said slowly. "Good as new... better."

~.~.~

Rael had lost track of how long he had been wandering the human city. Days and nights had passed, the sun rising and setting, the stream of humans around him waxing and waning with the cycles of their daily lives, but things like that had little meaning to a noble.

Humans themselves had little meaning to a noble, in Rael's opinion. But of course, Seira disagreed. She had been willing to fight him over that barely human trash, even.

He and Seira... disagreed a lot. Regis had been right - Rael didn't understand Seira at all. He never had, really. That awareness had always been at the back of his mind, but Rael had refused to acknowledge it. Long ago, he had decided he would marry Seira. She would join the Kertia, making their clan stronger and giving her a family again.

Well, he'd never managed to get as far as telling Seira about the marriage part. She had rejected the idea of joining another clan violently - coldly. So coldly, he'd never quite gathered the courage to bring it up again.

Maybe in some way, Rael had thought that he would be able to, after this. Once Seira decimated some of the human organization's toys and vented her cold rage, he'd approach her again and, this time, after he had helped her when no one else would-

But it wasn't that simple, was it?

That plan had been foolish from the start. Seira wouldn't be satisfied with ripping apart some human toys. No, she defended them! And now, she was aiming to go against a Union elder, and if her account was to be believed, their top executives were far stronger than Rael could have expected.

Sighing, he let his head fall against the back of the bench he had settled on.

The park around him was empty, now that night had fallen. But overhead, he couldn't make out any stars through the haze of lights from the city. Looking up at the murky half-dark sky, Rael felt a sudden, sharp twist in his chest. He didn't want to be here, in this human place. He didn't belong here. He wanted to go back to Lukedonia.

'...I should go back,' he thought. 'I should contact Lukedonia, tell my brother.'

They would stop Seira, of course, once he made his report and they became aware of her actions. But wouldn't that be for the best? Otherwise, they might all die, without anyone in Lukedonia even knowing why or where they vanished.

What was even the point of fighting? Seira was certain her father was alive, but...

Quiet whispering nearby made Rael scowl and slowly turn his head. There was group of human children who had stopped nearby, discussing something quietly but with surprising animation as they snuck glances at him. Their white uniforms were familiar - they passed in large numbers by the building where Seira and the modified humans were staying.

Rael had chosen the park precisely because he wanted to avoid crossing paths with any humans. They stared constantly if he walked the streets, day or night, and some had even approached him. They were all so noisy, so meddlesome and ill-mannered.

Unfortunately, it seemed he couldn't escape them no matter where he went.

As he considered whether to wait and hope they went away, or to just leave, Rael caught snatches of their discussion.

"...looks like a foreigner," one of them was saying.

"Maybe he's lost?"

"Just leave it. You're always sticking your nose into things."

"It's not safe to just hang around at night. We should at least ask if he needs help."

"We don't even know if he speaks Korean. Rai, back me up here."

They weren't going away. Clicking his tongue irritably, Rael glanced at the group - three boys, one short, one with red hair, and one with pitch black. They were huddled together, the short one and the redhead looking at the third expectantly.

There was a long pause. Then, instead of answering, the brunet turned and met Rael's gaze. Surprise made Rael freeze for a moment, staring back wide-eyed.

"...Rai?" one of the other humans prompted, but his voice sounded distant.

Rael blinked uncertainly as the strange human - Rai - broke their stare to look back at his friends. "Go on ahead. I will speak with him," he said. There was uncertainty in their expressions at the request, but his firm, commanding tone made it hard to refuse. Even as they exchanged a hesitant glance, the other two were already beginning to back away.

"...You'll call the Chairman if you get lost or something, right?" the redhead insisted as a last concession and, receiving a firm nod, finally hurried after the short one.

The strange human - Rai - turned and met Rael's gaze again. But was he really a human? His eyes were red, and far too piercing. Surely a human couldn't unsettle Rael this much with just a look? And... Well, he hated to sound like Regis, but this human was very... refined, in his posture and his manner. When he moved toward Rael, it was almost as if he was gliding across the pavement, not walking like a mortal.

His aura was muted and unreadable.

"What are you?" Rael demanded bluntly before the maybe-human had a chance to speak. He tried to press him with his will and force out an answer, but he could tell it didn't work. Before, with the modified human, he hadn't paid attention, but now he felt the lack of response. Whoever and whatever this was, he was unaffected by Rael's mind control.

The not-human only blinked slowly. "...Cadis Etrama di Raizel," he said.

A name, Rael realized. ...A very elegant name...

It also didn't tell him anything.

"What do you want from me?" he asked instead.

"The others," the other two human children, "were concerned for you," Cadis Etrama di Raizel said. Rael wasn't sure why, but he felt like there was a rebuke in there. The moment passed as Cadis Etrama di Raizel tilted his head and asked instead - "Why are you here?"

The question was not one Rael had expected, and it made him hesitate, brows furrowing uncertainly. He had no obligation to answer, not to some stranger, but... he couldn't have answered if he wanted to. The truth was, he didn't know why he was there, in that human city, in the human world at all.

For Seira?

Seira, whom he didn't understand and never had. Seira who looked at him coldly so often and didn't care about what he thought, who would fight him over some discarded human trash...

Why was he even here?

"I suppose," Rael muttered, "there's no reason for me to be here at all."

He had been talking to himself, caught up in his brooding and forgetting even the person who asked in the first place. So he jumped in surprise when Rai responded.

"But there must have been a reason why you came here in the first place," he pointed out.

"T-that was..."

"Did it change?"

"...I... I don't know," Rael admitted. Why had he come? It was... "There was a girl. I... I followed her, but now I..."

"You were by the will to protect," Rai said.

And... that wasn't true, not really. Rael was the reason Seira had put herself in danger in the first place. He'd intentionally goaded her into taking off, all because... Because he wanted to impress her by helping her? Because he wanted her to feel indebted to him?

Cringing, Rael hunched defensively.

The will to protect - that sounded just like something his brother would say. Or any other noble, really. To a true noble, the will to protect was the cornerstone of their existence and the greatest virtue.

Put like that, nothing Seira had done was strange. Wanting to protect her family, who she still believed to be alive, wanting to protect those weaklings, who she still called human... It was no surprise that Regis had understood Seira so easily. He was a Landegre, a true noble through and through.

Unlike Rael.

Rael was the one who didn't fit. He never had. No matter how hard he tried to live up to his clan's legacy and make his brother proud, he had always known that he fell short.

Protecting the weak? The duty of those with power? Why? They should have just lived as they pleased, as was their right, instead of purposefully weakening, crippling themselves. If they hadn't clung to those stupid ideals, Seira's and Regis's clans would still be strong. And even Rael's father...

He had never believed in those things, the core of a noble's way of life - the core of Seira's life. Looking at it like that, he and Seira had never really understood each other. If he was honest with himself, hadn't Rael always known that? What did he even want from Seira?

Why had he come here? Rael circled back to the same question.

...No wonder Seira had dismissed him and disregarded his protests. What was his opinion worth, when he barely knew it himself?

Cadis Etrama di Raizel was still watching him, calmly and patiently. "Do you wish to give up?" he suggested.

Yes, that was what Rael had been considering. Give up, go back to Lukedonia. Even though he was the one who had set this off - on his vague, selfish whim to gain a formless something from Seira.

If he gave up now, what would it have been for? ...What would his brother say when Rael returned to Lukedonia, having accomplished nothing except endanger bother Seira and Regis and stir up trouble with the human organization? Because of course Rajak would know that it had been Rael. There were few others who could or would have given Seira the lead she needed.

Wincing, Rael curled in on himself a little. "What should I do...?" he muttered.

"Do you wish to give up?" Cadis Etrama di Raizel repeated. "Return to your home?"

Rael shook his head frantically. He couldn't get the image of his brother's disappointed face out of his mind now - or the cold, cutting look Seira would surely give him, or even Regis's disdain. If he gave up now, he would never be able to hold his head up again.

"Then, will you see it through to the end?"

Sighing heavily, Rael ran a hand through his hair. "That's what I must do," he decided with a scowl. It wasn't like he had a choice, thinking about it.

"So you've regained your will," Cadis Etrama di Raizel noted, smiling faintly - and he was completely wrong, but.

But if his brother looked at him with that kind of approval, Rael was willing to take on any kind of mad, ridiculous scheme. The things people did for love were truly ridiculous.

It wasn't until he was almost back to the apartment complex they had temporarily taken over that Rael realized he never did find out - who or what had that mysterious being been? Well, it didn't matter, he supposed. Someone that elegant could only be worthy of respect.

~.~.~

 **Next: Death Scythe**

~.~.~


	8. Death Scythe

**Notes:** I'm out of backlog. Here's hoping I can get the next chapter complete by next Friday. It should be the second to last one. Almost done!

~.~.~

 **Chapter 8: Death Scythe**

Even though they had expected as much, it was still a surprise to find that Crombel hadn't lied — the island was right where he said it would be, despite being missing from every map and even satellite image.

Perhaps equally surprising was the absence of an ambush. As their group emerged from the water onto a deserted shore, there was nothing to greet them, no soldiers, no modified humans, no Elder.

"I don't sense anyone nearby," Regis said, for the benefit of M-21 and M-24, who had not yet sharpened his own senses enough. His brow furrowed with concentration as he spread out and sharpened his perception. "There's some signatures in the center, that way. But most of them are..."

Strange — experiments, most likely.

"None of them feel like Loyard," Rael said bluntly. He ignored the look Regis shot him.

That could have meant anything, of course, not just that there was no one of the Loyard clan on the island. Their auras could have been hidden, or too muted to read clearly — or distorted too much to recognize as their original nature. That last one was what flashed through the minds of the modified humans as they exchanged a glance. After all, in the Union, more terrifying than death was the threat of experimentation, and a noble would certainly make a rare, exciting subject.

"Let's go," Seira cut through their by-play.

She took the lead, vanishing quickly into the sparse treeline with barely a flutter of wind. The others followed silently, stretching their sense to search for any surveillance or traps as they moved deeper into the island.

Picking up the pace, Rael pulled level with Seira, and the two exchanged a short nod of understanding, before he suddenly pulled away from the group and vanished between one second and the next. His aura was gone too, as if he had never been with them at all.

As a Kartia, he could conceal his presence to an unparalleled degree, and if they did run into an ambush, he would stand the best chance of being missed and taking their enemies by surprise.

"Over there," M-21 spoke up suddenly, jerking his head toward the corner of a blocky concrete structure just barely visible between the trees. "That must be an entrance."

There must have been cameras aimed at the patch in front of the thick steel doors, but despite the way her group tensed, nothing appeared to attach Seira when she landed there and slowly approached. She stopped just short of the entrance and tilted her head slightly to look straight into a hidden camera.

A quiet click, followed by the whirring of gears, and the thick doors began to slide open.

"I don't suppose that's another power you nobles have," M-21 muttered, as they stared into the dark entryway, the sloping downward ramp disappearing into murky gloom.

"No," Regis replied shortly, his lips thinning. "It seems we are expected."

"Should we circle around, look for another way in?" M-21 suggested quietly, keeping his gaze fixed ahead.

"I doubt there's any point," M-24 muttered, and M-21 had to concede that. If their presence was known, it wouldn't matter which direction they approached from. Well, having the element of surprise against a secret base was always a longshot. With a narrow, mirthless smirk, M-24 tugged the brim of his hat lower over his face. "Besides, it would be rude to refuse their invitation."

Regis snorted quietly in amusement, despite the expression of annoyance M-21 made.

All three followed silently when Seira strode forward, into the dark entrance of the tunnel. One by one, dim lights flickered on, illuminating the downward path — an invitation indeed.

~.~.~

"My, my..." the Ninth Elder of the Union muttered, stroking his beard as he watched the footage of the security cameras — the carefully controlled progress of their "guests." "They really went along with it, just like that."

"They're young and stupid," Ignes said. Her tone and words were dismissive, but her expression was hard and cold in the light of the glowing monitors. "Those fools at Lukedonia always just charge straight ahead, so sure their power will protect them. Of course that stupid girl wouldn't stop when she thinks she's right."

The Ninth chuckled, a dry, mirthless sound. "All the better for us, yes? We could capture them now, it's been so long since we had new subjects..."

"But we'll have something even more interesting if we wait, don't you think?" Ignes said, smiling. "No, let's have them proceed for now, and make sure everything is recorded. This is going to be a very special event, after all — all thanks to the little Loyard princess."

"And the reanimation procedure?"

"No abnormalities. We're close to the halfway mark, and the signature should be starting to stabilize now," Ignes reported, her eyes flicking to a few of the readouts on the smaller screens. "Once it's stable enough for them to sense, we won't need to worry about monitoring their progress. They'll head straight for it themselves."

The Ninth hummed in acknowledgement. "All the same," he said, "I think I'll go make sure they don't... get lost. We do have some other delicate specimens here, and it would be a shame if the collateral got too out of hand."

"I'll stay here and monitor everything," Ignes volunteered dutifully. She chuckled. "But I admit I'm a bit jealous — getting to see it first hand is very tempting. I'm definitely looking forward to it!"

"Let's go over the data together later," the Ninth suggested with a grandfatherly smile. "It's bound to be quite something! But for now, I'll leave control to you, my dear."

She smiled and waved as he headed out of the observation room, but the expression soon slipped into an annoyed, bitter scowl. '"Dear"... treating me like a child, that useless shriveled husk,' she thought. 'He would be nothing without me and my research. And yet I'm the one stuck hiding in the shadows...'

Her jaw clenched, teeth grinding painfully, before she forced herself to relax. Letting out a short, sharp breath, she pasted another smile on her face, watching the progress of the small group with the amused expression of a predator.

Her eyes flicked to one of other, seemingly empty screens, and she made a thoughtful sound. "Oh? So he's here too," she judged, the corner of her lips curling darkly. "I wonder how much he's has grown — that little Kertia boy."

Yes, this was definitely going to be quite the exciting show.

~.~.~

Seira sensed it first — stopping abruptly in her quick strides through the seemingly empty facility. Her quiet, sharp gasp echoed through the sudden silence.

"Seira, what—" Regis started to ask, only to freeze as well. He turned his head slowly, though the sense he stretched out had nothing to do with his line of sight. "T-that aura... that's..."

"Father," she breathed, "I can feel him..."

She was off like a shot, rushing deeper into the laboratory without a backward glance or a second thought. "Seira! Wait!" Regis shouted after her — his voice echoing through the corridor as he disappeared after her.

"H-hey! What the hell is going?" M-21 barked, shooting an angry, demanding glare toward M-24, even as both of them followed the nobles. The drab, dimly lit walls of the hallways and the closed blast doors flashed by them in their headlong sprint deeper and deeper. There was absolutely no way this could be anything but a trap, and they were headed straight for it.

Brow furrowing, M-24 took a moment to respond. "I can feel... someone like Seira, near the center," he said finally. "I think it's getting stronger."

M-21 gritted his teeth. "Oi, Loyard! Think for a moment!" he yelled, even though Seira's pale hair was barely visible up ahead and getting further away. "Loyard!" Hot on her heels, Regis spared a glance back, but he couldn't let her go alone, and neither of them so much as slowed in their rush.

The narrow corridor opened suddenly into a cavernous room, the ceiling far above hidden completely in darkness. Rows of pale lights lined the floor in a strange pattern of circles that seemed somehow familiar.

Seira didn't slow, if anything, picking up speed in the open, but M-21 almost missed a step as he craned his head to look around. There was still no attack coming. But...

'This place — it's an experiment storage chamber,' he realized, shooting a sharp look toward his partner. In the distance, he could see a few raised, empty tanks, reflection of the dim lights playing across the curved glass. Numerous others just like them were locked down under the floor of the chamber, empty or... occupied with specimens in suspended animation.

That made sense — and yet it didn't. The Union wouldn't keep something as rare and powerful as a noble in a mass storage chamber.

"Down," M-24 spoke up. "It's coming from lower down. If this place is like other Union labs, there should be a shaft somewhere around here."

Up ahead, the frantic staccato of Seira's footsteps halted as she came to a stop. Her figure, narrow back to them, straightened slowly, framed by a gaping back emptiness just in front of her — a wide shaft leading straight down. Her long pale hair flared in the updraft.

Unfortunately, she hadn't paused because of any second thoughts. She was simply getting her bearings, and just as Regis finally caught up with her, Seira leaped into the abyss.

Regis didn't waste time following her, and M-24 was right behind him, only throwing a quick look toward his partner before jumping as well. It was too late for hesitation anyway. As M-21 leaped after them, he cast a glance over his shoulder. He couldn't see anything in the gloom of the massive holding chamber, but he could feel a cold shiver run down his spine, just before plunging into the darkness of the shaft.

He wasn't surprised when machinery groaned in the walls around them, and thick blast doors began to slide shut over the shaft's opening.

The doors slammed shut with a dull, ominous gong.

They landed in another cold, dark storage chamber, though smaller than the one above. It must have been used to contain more valuable or more dangerous specimens, making them both better defended from an attack on the base and easier to purge in case they broke loose.

A single large tube dominated the room, the machinery beneath it whirring away steadily. Data flashed across the holographic screens projected next to it — showing the status of the reanimation process.

The frost that had covered the surface was melting and sluicing off. Through the blurred glass, they could see a single shadowed figure floating inside, dwarfed by the massive tube.

Although she had felt his aura all through their approach, Seira still stopped and stared when she caught sight of that figure. Something about seeing it with her own eyes felt like a blow that left her winded. "F... Father..." she breathed, taking a shaky step forward.

This time, M-21 managed to grab her arm before she could take off and do something drastic like try to break open the tube. "He must have been put in suspension. He's being unfrozen now — if you break it in the middle of the procedure, it might cause a backlash," he said quickly.

For a moment, Seira stared at him with an unsettlingly blank expression, and M-21 could almost imagine her attacking him over his interference — something he hadn't even considered for a while now. But the moment passed, and, lips thinning into a harsh line, Seira turned away. Swallowing, she nodded reluctantly.

M-21 let her pull away, and she approached the tube slowly, her head tilting back as her eyes remained fixed on the figure inside. As the glass cleared, its features became clearer — the resemblance to Seira was striking. The same pale skin and hair, the same features, if somewhat sharper, even a similar build. The tattered remains of a black suit in a similar style still clung to his body.

He was covered in scars. Given unbelievable Seira's healing rate, M-21 had begun to wonder if a noble could scar at all. Now, he knew. He shouldn't have doubted. The Union always found a way, and then some — one of the man's arms was completely missing, and his clothing doubtlessly hid even more damage..

"Sir Elisei..." Regis murmured, following a few steps behind Seira. "Is... is he going to be alright? What did they do to him?" He clenched his fists helplessly.

Uncertain how to respond, M-21 glanced toward M-24. His partner, like Seira, was staring up at the figure of the Loyard clan leader. His expression had twisted into a grimace, the scars and wrinkles across his face more pronounced than ever.

"M-24?" M-21 called out to him quietly.

Uneasiness was building in his gut, his pulse picking up instinctively. He knew, without a doubt, that things were about to go very, very wrong.

"It feels like... I know him," M-24 mumbled, barely audible. "Or like I'm..." He trailed off, wincing.

The reanimation system blared a short, sharp siren, the holographic screen flaring green — the process was complete. As the liquid began to drain rapidly, Elisei's body lowered to the bottom of the tube.

A section of the glass slid open just before Seira could smash it open, letting her reach inside to grasp her father's body and pull him free. He slumped bonelessly in her arms, and the two of them sank to the floor. "F-Father..." Seira murmured, her embrace tightening, but only hesitantly. "Father..."

Elisei shuddered, making her go completely still. "S-Seira...?" he breathed, shifting his head to turn toward her.

His long pale hair was coming loose from its tie, wet bangs plastered over his face. But the gruesome damage to his eyes became obvious as he turned. There was no chance that he could still see, only recognizing his daughter by her voice and her aura.

"Yes, it's me," she said quickly. "I— We've come to take you back to Lukedonia, Father. It's going to be alright, just hold on."

Her grip tightened and she shifted as if to stand, to hurry and leave now while they could, but she hesitated, her eyes passing over and lingering on his injuries again. She had never seen anyone with that kind of damage, and it was clear she wasn't sure what to do. Helplessly, she glanced back at the rest of the group for some kind of answer.

Regis stared back, just as helpless, but M-24 quickly took a step forward, reaching out.

But before he could do anything else, he was interrupted — Elisei chuckled weakly. "A dream...? But even so, I'm... glad," he managed, his cracked lips curving into a faint smile. "That I could... meet you again and... entrust it to you myself..."

Seira stiffened, a fine tremor going through her body.

It. There was only one thing he could mean. And there was only one thing he could be implying.

"Death Scythe...? But..." The Loyard family soul weapon. But if it meant to entrust it to her, then... "No!" Seira protested. "Father! Please, just hold on! You-you have a duty to the clan, you are the clan head! You're the one who should wield Death Scythe, I'm not—! I'm not..."

"Our clan... is gone now. There's only you, and this is... all I can leave you," Elisei painstakingly forced out.

Red light dripped out of his wounds, eroding away further and faster. A pale glow had begun to emanate from his body, faint at first but growing stronger. Pressing her hand against the wounds, Seira vainly tried to hold him together.

"A...ah..." she keened. "I don't want it! Father!"

The truth was, it should have passed to her long ago. If she had simply wished for it, the incomplete form at least would have answered her. But Seira had rejected it all along, clinging instead to the wish to find her family. But now—

Weakly grasping her hand in his, Elisei tried to turn toward her blindly. "Please, Seira," he said.

There was no longer any choice or chance of another outcome. The reality of it was sinking in, and Seira couldn't refuse her father's last wish. Quieting, even as her shoulders still shook, she lowered her head in acquiescence. Tears dripped down onto Elisei's face, but he smiled.

"Thank you, Seira," he murmured. "I entrust to you the will of our clan... and my will... given form..."

It glowed white, rising from Elisei's fading form. His hand guiding hers, Seira hesitantly grasped the light. She could hear its whispers, the ones she had refused to acknowledge before, but which had always been with her as the pureblood heir of the Loyard clan. Biting her lip, she tried to steel herself.

"Yes, Father," she said, her voice shaking only slightly. "I shall carry on our legacy, as the head of the Loyard clan. I accept this soul weapon, the embodiment of our will."

Something deep inside slid into place, so smoothly that it was almost unnoticeable. It didn't matter. The most important thing was her father's smile as he began to vanish completely, breaking apart into pale red light.

"May it protect you, in my place," his voice echoed in her mind. "I will always be with you. I will always watch over you, my child..."

And then he was gone, the arm she had used to support him dropping to her lap uselessly.

All that remained was the light in her hand, shining between her fingers.

Without any conscious command, it solidified and took shape. It extended, forming a long staff that darkened to pure black and the wicked curve of an equally black blade.

"Death Scythe."

Seira pronounced its name quietly, but it rang out through the chamber. The physical weapon was only the smallest part of her birthright, and her awakened aura washed over everything like a tidal wave, cold and choking.

She stood slowly, leaning on the scythe before finally straightening. The blade gleamed as it she raised it.

"Seira...?" Regis called out, taking a hesitant step forward. Grasping his shoulder, M-24 pulled him back before he could go any further.

A shockwave ripped across the storage chamber, tearing through the ceiling and the walls — as Seira swung Death Scythe in a wide arc. The others cringed instinctively, raising their arms against the explosions that rocked the room, but Seira paid it all no heed, her face thrown momentarily into shadow as she turned to face them.

"This cursed place..." she said, her face and her voice cold, "I'm going to destroy it all."

~.~.~

 **Next: No Pulse**

~.~.~


	9. No Pulse

**Notes:** Man, you can tell when I'm really, really slacking in my writing because I start skipping my precious fight scenes (lol). Anyway, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it got kinda long and skippy as it was, so the end got pushed out for another week. ...if I can keep my writing schedule.

~.~.~

 **Chapter 9: No Pulse**

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

The one who spoke against Seira's proclamation was an old man in white robes that stood out against the darkness of the damaged storage chamber. None of them had sensed his presence until he chose to make himself known — even if they had been distracted, that level of power...

'An Elder?'

M-21 and M-24 had never seen one of the Union's top executives, but they instinctively backed away, pulling Regis along.

Only Seira remained motionless, her gaze heavy as she stared at the only man. "Are you the master of this place?" she demanded flatly. There was no expression on her face, only a cold, empty mask. But her hand clenched around the shaft of Death Scythe, her posture stiff.

The man's thick eyebrows rose in something that might have been surprise or amusement. "Indeed," he said. "I am the Ninth Elder, and this is my private laboratory. But you should know that already, since you dared to break in here so rudely."

He moved forward leisurely, making the others tense — but he made no move to attack, not yet, only watching Seira as her jaw tightened and her expression darkened.

"Normally, I'd dispose of any fool who dared attack my island," the Ninth went on. "But you'll make a fine subjects, the boy too. And... you did provide us with such a fine event. The transfer of a soul weapon — I'm sure we gathered some very useful data from that."

His tone was light, but his eyes gleamed maliciously. He knew exactly the reaction his words would provoke, and he was looking forward to it.

"You... you let us in here on purpose," Regis realized, his expression caught between horror and rage. "You started the reanimation process, even though you knew Sir Elisei would die, just because you wanted to watch him pass on Death Scythe..."

He trailed off, emotion choking him into speechlessness.

The Ninth smiled, tight and nasty. "Well worth it," he judged. "We weren't going to get more use out of that old specimen, after all. So this was—"

His taunting was cut off as Seira finally lost control and struck. Death Scythe was a black blur as it lashed through the air, and the walls behind him caved with the backwash of her swing. But the Ninth had been expecting it — had taunted her for precisely that reaction. He leaped nimbly over Death Scythe as if passed through the spot he had been standing and landed lightly again.

"How rude," he murmured, still smiling. "But I will gladly teach you some manners, little girl."

Long, thin spider legs burst from his back and stabbed at Seira. She batted them aside — with far more force than necessary, sending shockwaves across the quickly crumbling chamber with each swing of the scythe.

It was enough to make even the Ninth stagger a little. His next dodge was far less clean and causal, and the smirk had slid off his face.

Seira pressed the attack, lashing out again and again. The Ninth parried with one spider leg after another, but each blow sent him stumbling back more with their sheer power. With every swing, Seira's cold mask cracked a little, her glare sharpening, her lips pulling back in a snarl. It was fury more than exertion that made her shoulders shake with each breath.

That anger and hatred gave her strength, of course, but...

"She wasn't this powerful before," M-24 said, struggling to follow the running battle. "The Ninth is strong, but I don't think he's stronger than Crombel..."

And yet, Seira was clearly gaining the advantage, despite Crombel dominating their battle back then. Even when the Ninth block with a flash of the same pale energy that Crombel had used, Seira blasted through it with her own blood-black aura.

It wasn't long before a strike slipped past his defenses, and the sliced off tip of a spider leg went flying. Glaring openly now, the Ninth tried to strike back, but Seira batted him aside again.

"It's Death Scythe. A complete soul weapon Awakens its wielder and brings out their full potential," Regis explained distractedly. His eyes darted between the clouds of debris that the heated battle was kicking up, trying to follow the two fighters. "It makes the gap between a clan head and everyone else almost impossible to bridge..."

And it meant that they had no way of swaying the outcome of this battle — not that it looked like they needed to. Seira was more than holding her own.

"Forget it, we need to focus on getting out!" M-21 snapped, forcing himself to look away from the fight. "This place isn't going to last much longer!"

He was right. The deep level specimen storage chamber had been built to withstand violence and destruction, in case something mad and powerful got loose, but not to the level of a furious, rampaging clan head. Seira's attacks had ripped apart most of the walls and left deep craters in the floor, revealing the machinery beneath. The ceiling was groaning loudly and ominously, the remaining supports straining to hold it up.

"Come on!" M-21 repeated, grabbing Regis by the shoulder and beginning to drag him away. Thankfully, M-24 followed them, if reluctantly.

The only problem — there was no way out. The single shaft down had been sealed behind them.

~.~.~

'I knew this was a bad idea,' Rael thought. 'I knew it was a bad idea from the start!'

They had all known that from the start, of course. That was why he and Seira had decided that he would follow the rest of the ground in hiding — hoping that he would be able to avoid any trap that they fell into and free them.

Avoiding the trap had worked, at least. Rael had trailed far enough behind to the others that he didn't make it down the shaft to the lower containment chamber before the blast doors began to close.

That was good, he reminded himself. That meant he could get the doors open from the outside. The only problem was that... Rael wasn't particularly familiar with advanced human technology, much less that of the Union. There was no one around for him to mind control into doing it for him, and the flashing screens didn't mean much to him.

Cursing under his breath, Rael jabbed at the touch panel beside the shaft. A few messages flashed across the display, but the doors remained in place.

This was getting him nowhere. Below, he could feel the aura of Seira's father — but it was growing fainter and fainter, and at this rate... It wasn't fair. Was all of this going to be for nothing? And Seira, who loved her family so much was going to—

'I don't have time for this!' Rael decided sharply.

He would just have to cut his way through, even if it meant revealing Grandia. Stepping back from the control panel, he quickly held out his hands as if grasping for the power within him and began to concentrate.

Only the lightning reflexes of the Kertia saved him.

He didn't sense anything — impossible to believe, that someone could conceal themselves from him — but some instinct made Rael throw himself aside, just in time. A blast of power blew past him and smashed into the console he had been standing in front of.

No... Rael realized. He'd dodged because he hadn't been the target to begin with. The control panel for the shaft and the containment chamber below was completely gone, and the shaft itself had been caved in nearly until was almost certainly impassable.

"Sorry, but I can't have you doing that," a terrifyingly familiar voice remarked.

Rael stared, frozen in shock, at the figure that stood among the smoke and shadows. "Ignes..." he breathed, swallowing heavily.

Her smile widened. "Hi~!" Ignes drew out cheerily and waved in greeting — as if the last 500 years and her father's betrayal had never occurred. "It's been a long time, Rael! My, but you've gotten big, haven't you? Passed your coming of age?"

He had, more than twice over. He was an adult now, and he had Grandia, Rael reminded himself sharply, shaking away his surprise and tensing. 'But... Ignes always wanted a soul weapon, so badly,' he thought. 'There's no telling what she'll do if she sees I have one.'

"So cold," Ignes chuckled when he failed to respond. "Don't tell me you're mad that I took off. Are you buying into that nonsense about betraying Lukedonia too? I thought you were smarter than that." She shook her head, spreading her hands in a gesture of regret.

"D-don't act like you haven't done anything wrong!" Rael burst out. "If you'd just left, I would've understood! I thought I did understand... But you, you and the other traitors had to go and do that to Seira's family! That's too far!"

"Seira... Haha, don't tell you have a crush on the little Loyard princess!" Ignes laughed in disbelief. "Cute, but stupid, Rael. A little brat like you should have just stayed home with Big Brother. Even if you're cute... I can't let you go. So — time to say bye-bye~"

In the end, his deliberation was meaningless. She struck again, even faster than before, and Rael only barely managed to avoid it. Grandia appeared in his hands without conscious thought as he struggled to parry her next swipe. It gave him enough of a boost to knock aside her hand — bare as it was, his dagger failed to even nick the skin. She was much stronger and faster than someone without a soul weapon should have been — what had she been doing to herself among these inhuman humans?

Ignes's eyes had gone wide, fixed on Grandia. "That's... not Kartas," she breathed, and Rael felt a chill go down his spine from the way her expression twisted between greed and fury.

Faster than even he could react, her hand snaked out and clamped around his wrist, dragging one of the blades closer to her ravenous, raging gaze.

"What is this? Why do you have a soul weapon, Rael Kertia?"

The truth was, he didn't know. But he wouldn't have told her even if he did.

Gritting his teeth, Rael ripped himself free of her grip and planted a solid kick to her stomach, the force of it shoving them apart. He landed lightly, but Ignes was equally unaffected, straightening and flipping her long dark hair over her shoulder.

"That's fine," she said, as if reminding herself, and smiled again. "I'll just rip it out of you."

~.~.~

"You... damn brat... you'll... pay..." the Ninth Elder coughed, dark blood running down his chin and soaking through his beard. His gnarled hands clutched uselessly at Death Scythe's black shaft, but he no longer had the power to pull out its blade, lodged through his torso. More blood flowed out of the massive wound, staining his tattered, dirty uniform in swathes of red.

He choked as Seira twisted Death Scythe, the blade shifting and drawing renewed spurts of blood. "You are the one who must pay," she said. She watched him struggle dispassionately, aside from the disgusted curl of lips.

With a sharp jerk, she ripped Death Scythe free, all but cutting him in half. His mangled body dropped to the floor with a wet sound and did not move again.

Seira eyed it coldly. It didn't bring her any satisfaction, or even sense of relief — just a gaping sense of emptiness, now that the rush of battle was fading. Her breath shuddered as she let it out, and staggered, leaning heavily on Death Scythe.

Even if she had been clearly stronger, fueled by rage and her newly Awakened power, the battle had taken its toll on Seira, and she felt lightheaded, though more from the sudden release of tension than from her fairly light wounds.

"Seira!" Regis called out as he hurried to her side. "Are you..." 'alright' "...injured?"

She shook her head without raising it and leaned against him once she allowed Death Scythe to vanish. She was aware, distantly, that she should reassure him, say something, and that she needed to lead them out and to safety, but...

'Father...'

She was so tired. Everything, all the hoping, the searching, it had been for nothing. Her shoulders trembled, and she pressed closer to Regis — even though she was the one who should have been protecting him. "We... need to go," she muttered, trying to force herself into action. She was responsible for all of them. She was the clan leader now, and the oldest, strongest one. "We need to leave this place."

What she wanted was to destroy it, but she didn't have the power for that. Retreat was the smartest choice.

"Take it easy," M-24 cautioned, moving to join them. "You need to regain your strength."

Seira shook her head again, more firmly. "We need to go," she repeated. "I'll be fine."

"There's no point in rushing now," M-21 said flatly. "There's only one way down — that's how the Union makes it, so they can run containment more easily, if the specimens manage to break out. And that's blocked off." He jerked his head back, toward the shaft. "We're stuck here until either that other kid gets it open for us, or you can break through from this end."

'At least anyone still up there shouldn't be able to activate any containment procedures,' he added mentally. The chamber was a complete wreck, more than half nothing but ruins, down to the surrounding stone, so the likelihood of any knockout gas or other machinery still working was incredibly low. 'We should be safe for now...'

That was good because he severely doubted their ability to go anywhere. After a long, piercing look, Seira seemed to accept his logic and let herself slump against Regis, M-24 hovering uselessly over both of them.

"Rael..." Regis frowned, concentrating for a moment. "I thought I sensed him, but..." But he'd lost track, distracted by Sir Elisei and then Seira's battle. And now, he couldn't sense any living presence on the upper levels of the base. It seemed as if the Ninth had been alone in his private lab.

M-21 shrugged. "Does he even know how to work a computer?" he asked somewhat rhetorically. He didn't have much faith in Rael's abilities, no matter how powerful Seira and Regis claimed he was.

"...There's a shaft that goes further down too," M-24 said — they had seen it while looking for another exit.

"But it probably goes to another containment chamber," M-21 said, frowning. "I doubt there's a way out down there. That's not the way the Union does things."

"Why would they need a level even deeper?" Regis wondered.

M-21 paused, suddenly realizing he wasn't sure. Or perhaps the better question would be why the Ninth hadn't kept Elisei at the lowest level. What could be more dangerous and requiring more safeguards than a noble clan head?

"We should see," Seira spoke up unexpectedly, "if there's someone down there."

M-21 frowned. "Just because the Union thinks something is dangerous enough to lock up down there doesn't mean it would be friendly to us," he said, remembering the many other Union experiments that had lorded their small power or advantage over him and M-24. "If there's anything down there, it's much more likely to attack us than help."

The look Regis shot him made it clear M-21 had missed something. "We're the ones helping them," Regis said slowly, frowning back.

That... sounded either stupid or insane — but also somehow like Seira, M-21 supposed, the same way Seira had refused to just leave him and M-24. But it wasn't just her usual righteousness, was it? Leaving someone under the Union's control, to suffer and die the way Sir Elisei had... Glancing at Seira, M-21 sighed.

"Just... don't touch anything until we know what's down there," he caved in.

~.~.~

The control panel flashed red and beeped angrily, showing yet another error. Gritting her teeth, Ignes strained to keep calm. "Your little friends really did a number on the systems down there," she said in a falsely light tone. "Lucky them — I can't just flash freeze the lot of them from here."

Rael's unconscious form, propped carelessly against the dented wall next to her, did not reply. Blood dripped down the side of his face and from a nasty wound in his side. Normally, Ignes tried to capture her specimens without too much damage, but she had gotten a bit carried away, seeing him wielding that impossible soul weapon.

'No matter,' Ignes told herself mentally. 'I will find out all about it in time.'

"This place might be a write off though," she mused aloud. Pausing to think, she tapped a finger against his chin. "What do you think? Should I just collapse it on them and be done with it? But there's also that thing down there... He might get loose."

She reached out and tapped at one of the minimized windows, pulling up a cluster of video feeds — almost all of them completely black or overtaken by static, the cameras too damaged by Seira's battle with the Ninth. All the other sensors and the equipment readouts were down too. 'The lower chamber isn't reading fully either,' Ignes thought. 'At this rate, the forced hibernation might fail before too long. With his regeneration, even a small deviation will be enough...'

"On the other hand, that might be interesting too," she decided. "I've already learned all I can from him anyway. Having him run around loose would keep some annoying meddlers busy, and maybe he'll even take out some other pest just like 800 years ago..."

Smiling brightly, she nodded to herself.

"What a great plan!" Ignes chuckled. "And that'll give us plenty of alone time to find out all about that little toy of yours, Rael—"

She turned toward her unconscious subject, only to meet a cold red gaze, for just an instance.

Not Rael's. Not Rael at all.

Reacting with impressive speed, Ignes threw herself back. The slash was too fast to see, but a few cut locks of dark hair fluttered loose and a thin line of blood welled up across her throat.

She slid backward as she touched down, eyes fixed on the one who had attacked her — had completely slipped past her senses. As expected of the Kertia clan head.

"...Hi Rajak," Ignes greeted with false cheer, even as her smile sharpened.

Rajak's expression, the half of it visible, did not change. He hadn't followed after her, remaining crouched over his brother's body. Kartas gleamed in his hands. Ignes's eyes trailed over the daggers, hunder in her gaze. Yes, that was the proper soul weapon of the Kertia clan. Then what was the thing Rael had wielded?

Fighting a clan head was something she would normally avoid, but... She wanted to know. She wanted to cut Rael apart and find out the secret to it. She wanted it so badly — a soul weapon of her own.

Well, good thing her father was away from the lab and not there to stop her.

'Time for a field test,' she thought. 'How will my enhancements match up to a real clan head?' Her smile grew wider, baring sharp teeth. 'I'm a little excited, I've got to admit.'

She blinked, and Rajak was gone.

Ignes couldn't track him, and she didn't bother to try. She dropped to the ground with lightning reflex, feeling the air move above her as Rajak struck, unseen, where she had been. Dangerous — he was faster than they had predicted.

But that was alright. He was still just a brat, no matter how strong or fast. When she gathered her power and sent it blasting outward, it wasn't at Rajak himself. Her target was his brother's prone form, knowing full well that protecting Rael would come first for him.

Just as she expected, her energy blast was cut in half by Kartas's blades, parting before it could reach Rael. But to do that, Rajak had been forced to break off his attack and put himself exactly where Ignes predicted. He barely dodged her follow up strike, and now, she knew where he was.

'The will to protect... so easy,' Ignes thought. 'Just like those Loyard and Landegre fools.'

"Looks like you're in quite a pinch," she taunted, raising her voice. "I wasn't handed a soul weapon on a silver platter like you brat, so I've found far greater strength on my own!"

The correct noble response would have been to tell her that her strength was false and an abomination, but Rajak remained silent. He readied his blades, and a moment later was engulfed by another powerful blast. It was parted as well, leaving him and Rael unharmed — just in time for a thin knife of energy to gouge into his leg.

Rajak staggered, but he still managed to duck out of the way when Ignes closed the distance and struck out with a knife hand. Her fingertips ripped through the shoulder of his black coat, drawing a small splattering of blood, but he had avoided a serious blow.

That time, at least. He tried to retaliate with a quick stab, only to be parried as well. Ignes's hand clamped around his wrist, pinning him down.

She was smiling as her eyes met his, sharp and anticipating. "Not much when I can see you, are you?" she taunted again, and planted her knee in his gut.

A quiet, stifled gasp and a small shudder was the only reaction Rajak allowed. He recovered almost immediately, slashing out at Ignes with his free arm and blade. The cut he landed was shallow, and Ignes didn't even flinch. Twisting her ankle behind his, she shoved him off balance and elbowed him in the face. This time, he couldn't recover fast enough to retaliate or dodge when Ignes released him and instead landed a heavy punch to his stomach.

Rajak coughed and staggered. Linking her hands together, Ignes brought them down in a heavy hammer blow to the back of his head. He dropped to one knee, just in time to take another, even harder kick straight to the face. It sent him flying, crashing into a pile of debris and the floor.

'How inelegant,' Ignes thought with amusement, both about his state and her own methods. There was a satisfaction there, certainly. She was enjoying it perhaps more than wise. 'I need to finish this quickly,' she reminded herself — no matter how satisfying it was to play around with one of those brats who had dared to get ahead of her.

She readied herself. This time she would strike straight through him and rip out enough of his organs to kill even a clan head—

But just as she was about to kick off in her dash, the ground shuddered. A powerful, overwhelming aura washed over them, making even Ignes stumble.

"Tch!" she clicked her tongue irritably. "It had to give out now?"

She had missed her opening. Rajak recovered faster, regaining his feet and flashing to Rael's side. He had no idea what was happening, but he didn't waste time deliberating. An explosion, somewhere far below, shook the laboratory again, and he was already moving before Ignes could pursue — his brother's body over his shoulder, Rajak wisely retreated and vanished down the corridor.

Ignes didn't have time to stew in her rage at losing her prey. A wide crack ran across the ceiling, and pieces of the structure were beginning to collapse.

'I made a backup before I left the control room...' she mentally calculated. 'There's no point in staying here.'

Still, she couldn't help grinding her teeth angrily as she turned and began her own escape. For now — one day, she'd find out the secret behind that weapon which should not have existed. She swore it.

~.~.~

 **Next:** Finale

~.~.~


	10. Epilogue

**Notes:** Plot is too hard, I'm never doing plot fic again.

Fun fact, about two pages in I suddenly wanted to change the ending to exclude Muzaka waking up (spoilers, I guess, but we all know where this is going), but then I realized I'd need to make changes to the end of last chapter... which I already published... and that would be too much work, so we're sticking with this to the end.

~.~.~

 **Chapter 10: Epilogue**

Seira, Regis, M-24 and M-21 stared up at the massive tank in the center of the lowest containment chamber — and the unconscious figure floating within it.

"...Who is he?" M-24 wondered finally, glancing over at Seira and Regis.

Regis shook his head. "I don't know... I've never seen him before. He looks a bit like someone from the Ru clan, but... his aura is different. I don't think he's a noble."

Not that the man, with his massive scars and long pale hair, felt human either. Not even like a modified human, really — despite everything, M-24 and M-21 were still clearly human at the core. But this man...

"It doesn't matter who or what he is," Seira said quietly, but without room for compromise. "We can't leave him here."

Although M-24 could understand the sentiment, he hesitated and frowned. "That's..." he trailed off. Unsure what to say, he glanced at M-21. But for once, his partner was making no protest. He was staring up at the unknown man with an almost enraptured expression. M-24 frowned. "M-21? What is it?"

It took a moment for M-21 to respond. Blinking and shaking his head slowly as if coming out of a daze, he said, "I don't... know... This guy, he's..."

He couldn't explain it at all — his chest felt tight, like he couldn't breathe. It wasn't familiarity, but at the same time, it was. He shook his head again.

M-24 wasn't the only one watching him in concern at that point. Even Seira hesitated to press on, her lips thinning as she found herself caught between two conflicting obligations. "So what are we going to do?" Regis asked finally. Making his way over to the control panel in front of the tank, he peered at it and wrinkled his nose. "I don't know what any of this means..."

He and Seira hadn't spent nearly enough time around scientists to absorb the required knowledge — for the best, but frustrating all the same.

"Let me see—" M-21 started to say, shaking off the odd sensations to move toward Regis.

The emergency lights flickered, along with the displays. Something in the ceiling groaned and then cracked. A thin but widening fissure had begun to open, running down one of the walls. With a quiet, ominous click, a crack appeared across the tank, and the control panel went dark.

"Get back," M-21 said quietly, but with a steely certainty. "Get back right now."

Without taking his eyes off the tank, Regis began to back away. Through the flickering shadows, the liquid and the cracked glass, he thought he saw the man's eyes snap open.

The tank burst, sending water torrenting over them. It was little more than an inconvenience, and M-21 only shook his head quickly to clear his eyes, already searching for Regis. He didn't need the nobles' sense of auras to feel something stirring and awakening. The raw power in the air buzzed against his wet skin and seemed to resonate through his skull.

Sparing a glance toward the remains of the tank, he could see the unknown man's slumped form shudder and begin to stir. Something like a growl, almost too deep to be heard, rumbled through the air.

'We need to run,' M-21 thought.

Grabbing Regis by the arm, he did just that. They barely made a few steps before a howl split the air, and the oppressive power exploded outward. It stripped metal sheets off the floor and dented the walls with its sheer force. Swept off their feet, Regis and M-21 were sent flying, while M-24 just barely managed to remain on his feet until Seira threw up a hasty shield.

As they skidded to a painful stop, Regis tried to do the same.

"Don't!" M-21 snapped, grabbing hold of the arm Regis had raised and dragging him back down to the floor. "You too! Just get down!"

Seira glanced at him uncertainly, but M-24 seemed to understand and quickly pulled her into a crouch instead. As she dropped her shield, they barely managed to duck another twisted slab of metal sent flying by the whirlwind of power rampaging through the chamber.

"Don't get its attention!" M-21 snapped when Seira shot him a demanding glare.

"I don't think that guy even knows we're here," M-24 explained, his voice tense and low, barely audible over the cacophony. "But if you use your powers, he might notice us..."

They were right. The overwhelming power crashing over them and ripping apart the chamber was completely directionless. The unknown man in the center of it all continued to howl, full of rage and suffering — and madness. He did not seems in the least aware of their presence or even of his surroundings.

"What the hell is he?" M-21 muttered furiously. He could just make out what looked like silver fur spreading across his arms and chest, his fingers lengthening into wicked claws.

"It couldn't be, but... a werewolf?" Regis guessed.

'Werewolf?! Those exist too?' M-21 thought with a flash of indignation. In all their snooping through Union files, they had never seen any mention of that — which was hardly a surprise, given the Union's methods and policies, but... This power must have been equal to a noble, or an Elder.

Those claws looked like they could tear through anything.

The long howl cut off suddenly, making them gasp as the tension and raging power vanished. A shiver went down M-21's back as he broke out in cold sweat of fear. He pushed Regis's head down, pressing them both closer to the floor, but he couldn't help risking a covert glance toward the unknown man in the center of the chamber.

He was still standing, head bowed. Something massive and ethereal towered over and behind him — a giant, spectral wolf. Silver fur rippled, and there was the distant echo of a clinking chain.

For an instance, M-21 thought their eyes met, before he hurriedly ducked his head, heart pounding.

'Don't look this way, don't notice us—'

What came next wasn't a howl, but a roar — too loud, too deep for any human to make. Everything shook, more pieces of the collapsing ceiling coming down with a loud crash. Wind whipped through the chamber as the air was suddenly displaced.

Regis cursed, completely drowned out, as he threw up a shield just in time to keep them from getting crushed by the debris.

Eventually, it ended.

M-21 coughed, choking on the dust in the air, and tried to lift his head. It hurt, and so did the rest of his body, despite Regis shielding them from the worst of it. His ears were ringing too, and he had to blink furiously for a minute before his eyes stopped swimming with spots.

The unknown man — werewolf? — was gone. Judging by Regis's faint frown as he looked upward and turned slowly to follow something out of sight, he had fled the island completely — by carving a path straight up, through the ceiling and the layers of rock between the lowest containment chamber and the surface.

Faint natural light was filtering down from the small glowing circle of the opening up above. Looking up at it made M-21 shudder instinctively at the display of insane raw power.

"What the hell was that...?" he muttered.

Regis shook his head mutely. "It... it doesn't matter," he decided. "It's gone now... I hope." He shook his head and stood gingerly. "Seira! Seira, can you hear me?"

They couldn't see the place where M-24 and Seira had been anymore, only outcroppings of jagged rubble — one of which finally moved, heaving once, twice, before the topmost boulder was thrown aside to reveal M-24, covered in dust, but otherwise unharmed, and Seira, looking worn, but also unharmed.

"We're alright," M-24 said, rolling his neck and wincing when it cracked. "Somehow."

"That's great, but we should probably get out of here before something else happens," M-21 said. He looked up, squinting. "At least there's a way out now... not sure how we're going to get up through there though."

"It's fine, we can— ugh," Regis started to say, only to cut himself off with a strange sound. Glancing at him, M-21 saw that he'd gone pale, despite his already near white complexion.

"Oh," Seira said very quietly. "Sir Gejutel... is here."

'Gejutel, Gejutel...' M-21 exchanged a glance with his partner, trying to place the name. "Your grandfather?"

He could have sworn Regis whimpered.

~.~.~

Nobles could fly, it turned out. That was what Regis's grandfather did, descending regally down into the underground chamber and floating overhead as he regarded them with a look that made even M-21 look away in some instinctive sense of contrition.

"Well," Gejutel said slowly. "This is not how I expected you to prepare for your coming of age."

Regis almost certainly whimpered then.

"Given the situation, you will make your report to the Lord," he went on. "Come along. Rajak has already retrieved his brother." And before Seira could protest, he added, "Bring your... clansman too. And the other one, I suppose."

He didn't sigh, but it was clearly implied.

'Clansman?' Regis mouthed, sharing a look with Seira. They couldn't possibly be getting off that lightly, right? On the other hand, it wasn't like they had much chance to make a break for it.

'The other one?' M-21 mouthed to himself, scowling. Never mind, he was going to give this geezer a piece of his mind...

Regis elbowed him sharply.

~.~.~

"I can't believe we're getting off this easily," Regis muttered, dropping his head in his hands — in relief, but also in confusion. "She didn't even care about the contract."

Or rather, she — the Lord, nobles had some strange customs — had been apparently willing to accept Seira's excuse that M-24 had already possessed the power of a noble to begin with, so entering into a contract with him did not violate the spirit of the law against it, which was meant to prevent humans being given power they were not meant to possesses.

Or maybe she had just been more interested in the proof that the noble traitors truly had joined the human Union and were indeed behind the incident one hundred years ago. Regis, Rael, M-24 and M-21 had been ushered out before any discussion of that point could take place — Seira remaining as the new Loyard clan head — but it had certainly seemed to shake and trouble the other assembled clan heads.

"I can't believe my brother's not even mad," Rael muttered, mimicking Regis's posture. "He actually said he was proud of me..."

Well, Rajak had made a show of scolding Rael a little, about listening in on things he was not meant to hear and not alerting the rest of the clan to his plans, as well as underestimating his enemy. But in the end, he had congratulated Rael on supporting Seira and remaining steadfast even the face of an enemy that he couldn't defeat.

Although, Seira had hardly found a happy ending to her search...

"Great. So what happens now?" M-21 wondered. He was... happy for the noble kids, he supposed. It was good that they hadn't gotten in trouble and made it back home, to this Lukedonia, safely. But what did that mean for him and M-24?

Regis pursed his lips, frowning. "The Lord and the clan heads will have to break the non-aggression agreement with the Union," he said decisively. "We know the traitors are working with them. We know they... attacked our people. We have to take action, even if it's in the human world."

Frowning as well, Rael had raised his head. He couldn't say Regis was wrong — the clan heads were much more cautious than a hotheaded kid like Regis, but holding back served no purpose anymore. "I doubt we'll declare war right away or anything like that," he said, tapping his foot thoughtfully. "But things will definitely start moving now."

Well, at least his brother would know to take extra care out on missions now. It wasn't as if the threat of Ignes and the other traitors was ever just going to go away. The sooner Lukedonia crushed them, the better off they'd be.

"That's... interesting," M-21 said. Huge, world-changing, in fact. He could barely wrap his head around an entire species on par with the Elders or even stronger making the Union their enemy. It sounds almost like the Union might be... but no, he wouldn't get his hopes up. He added, somewhat dryly, "But that's not really what I meant."

"Do you think we'll be able to stay here?" M-24 asked bluntly.

"Grandfather acknowledged it, right? You're part of Seira's clan," Regis said, his tone making it clear he thought the answer was obvious. "Where else would you go?"

He looked between them slowly as if trying to figure out why they were even asking — humans were so confusing — before comprehension dawned on his face. He almost had it right, too.

"Oh! Well, it's true we don't really bring humans to Lukedonia much," Regis admitted, glancing at M-21, "but it's a special case anyway. Grandfather told me it used to be different in the past, and we do have some humans here sometimes, like it they wash up shipwrecked."

"It's not like Seira will let you get kicked out. Even if you didn't make a contract, she's already decided you're her clan by proxy," Rael muttered, making a face.

He understood that much now — about Seira and the way she was. In a way, he supposed they were alike. He would do anything for his family, his brother, too. It was just that Seira's definition of family was different from his. Her dedication to their memory and their ideals... was almost inspiring. Following what his brother believed in, because it mattered to Rajak and Rajak mattered to him — Rael was beginning to understand that too.

Regardless, he was right. When it came to those she perceived as her responsibility — her family, her clan — Seira wouldn't hesitate or stop, no matter what. 'She certainly proved that,' M-21 thought with a sigh. 'To a stupid extent...'

He turned to look at his partner when M-24 clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. M-24 smiled. "It's be alright," he said simply.

For a moment, M-21 didn't respond. Then, he snorted and shook his head. "Yeah," he admitted, with a small smile of his own, "we made it... somehow."

If only for a little while, there was no need to worry. They were finally safe, together.

~.~.~

 **(season 1 end)**

 **End notes:** It's oveeeeeer. I do technically have a general plan for S2, but I'm just really not feeling writing at this point (as you can probably tell from the poor quality, haha). Plot is too hard to do! Character interactions and development are too hard too! (Also, I'm not exactly inspired by the werewolf arc in canon.)

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it even a little bit! If you can, please leave a review~


End file.
